Athena's Hearts
by Sue-Drae
Summary: At the Battle of Canary Wharf, Rose Tyler was lost, especially for the Doctor. But what if she wasn't? Not completely. The story of the Doctor's daughter as she follows him into the stars. Rose/Ten OC
1. Chapter 1

I do not own Doctor Who.

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><p>There are so many vast and amazing, breathtakingly beautiful, brilliant, evil, and otherwise indescribable things that I don't yet know. I've never seen the Medusa Cascade. I've never heard a dalek scream, 'Exterminate!' as it approaches its newest victim. I've never seen the flash of metal as a cyberman picked who was compatible for conversion. I've never ran for my life towards that impossibly blue box. Something old, something new; something borrowed, something blue…<p>

All I've had all my life were fairy tales about the mysterious Doctor, his exploits my lullaby. His lowest loss and his greatest victories over those who called him the Oncoming Storm. The last of the Timelords. The lonely angel.

The saddest part of his story is that he's saved Earth, my home, so many times and only a handful of people even know it. Even less have seen him, the near crazed light that lights up his brown eyes as they hide behind his unneeded glasses. It's strange though… We each know him, we all search for him when he's run off again. But he forgets us in time, especially those he never truly knew. He's never even met me. There are some who I hope will always be remembered, his companions. My mum tore through dozens of universes to find him again. I hope he remembers that when our time's spent.

It's sometimes hard to be his daughter.

There are a few things you should know about me. First, my name is Athena. No last name. I guess that's genetic, the inexplicable need to hide my true name, something even Mum hardly knows. My birth name was Amber Rose Tyler but that name hardly represents me as a name should.

I could go on about my obnoxiously wavy brown- unlike my mother, I refused to dye it anything but a single blue streak- hair that hung just below my shoulder blades, my hazel eyes, my high cheek bones, and my turned-up nose, but none of that'll matter in the end, especially if my theory on regeneration turns out to be correct. Not that I'm willing to test it, of course. The important thing is that I have more than one heart beating steadily. I can hear the time vortex singing in my veins, feel the Earth moving under my feet at a million miles an hour while we all stand still at the speed of light.

I'm seventeen, waiting for the day when that blue box will fall out of the sky and my life as just a another human will end and I'll begin my true life.

Until then, I was forced to live in the past- literally- at least until the Doctor showed up. Mum and I moved two doors down from the flat she shared with grandmum in the Powell Estates. All in all, an easy enough thing for a half Timelady with a knack for building vortex manipulators with full access to Torchwood and it's resources.

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><p>AN:

Really short, I know. This is only a prologue, mind you. I'm going to update the next chapter sometime tomorrow. Please review if you liked it and definitely review if you didn't. This is my first Doctor Who fanfic but I'm generally in my depth with time travel. If you see any inconsistencies later or any spelling/grammar errors, tell me about it and I'll change it :)

Till next update,

^.^ Susie ^.^


	2. Chapter 3

A/N:

Another short-ish chapter. The first chapter got thirty five views as of now, 10/10. It was favorited by one person and put under the watch list of one more.

Please review :) Tell me watch you like, don't like, want to see, etc.

I don't own Doctor Who. I really wish I had a TARDIS though...

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><p>~Athena's POV~<p>

"Hey, kiddo," a familiar drawl rang out as the front door shut with a gentle _thud_. I felt my face shift into a grin as I recognized the voice.

"Jack!" I heard my mum say, her voice colored with happy surprise as she sat up from the couch, my neck shifting uncomfortably as I lifted my head from her lap.

"Hey, Rose," Jack grinned, looking exactly the same, as ever. He never aged, thanks to Bad Wolf, aka my mum.

"Captain Jack Harkness," I grinned, standing up and tackling the man. If he was any shorter or less macho, he would've been on the ground. Mum sighed when I beat her to her old friend.

"I hate being old," she pouted. Jack and I shared a glance; Mum's age had always been a raw topic with her, especially since she had an immortal friend and a daughter who happened to be half-Timelord. It didn't make sense though, she still looked in her mid-twenties. Our best guess was that it had something to do with Bad Wolf.

"You aren't old, Mum. You're what, thirty seven?"

"Thirty six," she countered. Jack and I shared another glance as the former hugged my mum. "So what are you doing here, Jack?"

"I thought you might want to see this," Jack said, pulling a memo from his coat. I glanced at the heading: Doctor in London, All Units Return to Base Immediately.

"When was he sighted?" Mum asked quietly. Jack grinned, holding out his wrist. I recognized the vortex manipulator that I had put together on my tenth birthday.

"Tomorrow, 10:00. One of our guys is going to spot him going into a hospital," Jack reported as Mum grabbed the memo, her eyes scanning the paper.

"Gimme the vortex manipulator," I said, reaching for Jack's arm. He raised an eyebrow, easily dodging my hands. I pouted, activating the infamous puppy dog eyes. Four more seconds… I could see his defenses melting away…

"No, Athena," Mum said, her voice ringing with finality. It had only taken her seventeen years to accept that neither Amber nor Amy fit me.

"Yes, Mum. I need to see him," I said with finality. Mum shook her head slightly, holding the memo out to me.

"I can't let you do that," she shook her head. My eyes ran down the paper, my face settling into a frown when I noted the post-script scribbled at the bottom. The hospital was snatched off the surface of the Earth, only to reappear a few hours later. No one saw the Doctor since.

"Come on, he's not dead," I rolled my eyes. "You know I would've felt something. Something that big would've totally screwed up the entire timeline of the universe."

"She has a point," Jack shrugged, smiling tightly. I raised an eyebrow before turning back to my mother.

"You can't stop me from _meeting_ him at least. Mum, this is my _dad_. You've met your dad, why can't I meet mine?"

"Need I remind you that saving my dad mucked up the timeline? He had to die to fix all that," Rose said pointedly. I sighed dramatically.

"Yeah, but the Doctor's not going to _die_. He probably just… Aha! Plasma coils, no wonder he couldn't resist," I nodded, reading further. Mum sighed, defeated.

"If you get someone killed, I'm going to say I told you so," she confirmed. I grinned, trying to keep victory as the prominent feature on my face, not my sheer glee at the idea of finally meeting the man responsible for my existence.

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><p>"This is probably the most boring thing I've done in my life," I reminded my mum. We were sitting in the hospital lobby, filling out paperwork with bogus information. Jack must've told them I was pregnant or something from the looks I got. Honestly, even if I had been, I was seventeen. That was older than most of the mothers coming out of the Powell Estates.<p>

"I know," Mum sighed, her eyes darting anxiously around the lobby. Seeing the concern, I smiled confidently.

"Don't worry, Mum. I read the report. The Judoon were looking for a plasmavore. They won't look any deeper than human or not," I reminded her. Her eyes grew even more concerned, her eyebrows meeting worriedly.

"That's my point, Athena. You _aren't_ human. If they find you they'll-" Her voice cut off. A doctor, probably a resident, had accidentally tripped over Mum's foot. Apologizing for her mistake, the young woman blushed slightly, her already dark skin darkening further as she raced away, probably late.

"That was-" Now I was interrupted. Something was wrong. I could feel it in my gut. Something was different, something that had to do with the woman whose white coat claimed her name was Jones. Mum saw the look in my eyes.

"Go," she allowed, sighing. "I'll see you at home, I'd rather not have to- to do this now."

I flashed a smile at her, standing up and asking the receptionist where the bathroom was before ignoring the directions and tracking Dr. Jones through the hospital.

"Are you having trouble finding the heart, Dr. Jones?" A voice drawled sharply. I zeroed in on the man's voice. He was surrounded by residents, all crowding around a man's bed. I crept closer, looking past the group, forcing my eyes to scan the room as if I was searching for someone. It didn't work that way. My eyes found him against my will.

He lay in the bed, winking at the woman who had surely heard his second heart with her stethoscope. Dr. Jones backed away just a bit, following the rest of the residents after she was embarrassed just a bit by the head doctor, a man by the name of Mr. Stoker.

When they were all gone, I leaned on a wall close by, trying to seem uninterested in the man. Too bad I was never much of an actress.

"So, what are you in for?" the Doctor asked cheerily, his eyes lighting up jokingly. I held back a sheepish smile, knowing that he'd have no idea who I was, even if he still remembered Mum.

"A friend of mine told me to come by the hospital today," I shrugged.

"Strange friend. eh?"

"I know, right?" I laughed, not letting him come up with any abnormal conclusions. I was about to continue my act when something else came out of my mouth. "How did Dr. Jones take your heartbeats?"

I almost turned and ran. The Doctor only raised an eyebrow, both curious and cautious. But, like always, curiousity won out.

"What was that?" he asked. I could tell that we both knew what I had said. I beat the blush that threatened to come forward. I've seen my father, the legend of the universe, for all of two minutes and I'd already said something stupid. That must be a record.

Instead of answering, I bit my lip. Eventually, I sat down on the bed, twiddling my thumbs as I avoided the Doctor's eyes.

"Captain Jack says hi," I said, watching his face. I saw the badly hidden surprise and almost confusion. I chuckled, determined to lighten the mood somewhat. "He's the one who told me to come here today. Actually, he told me to give you a kiss and a slap for leaving him on- well, you know- but I thought you'd appreciate me not."

"But he's-"

"Yep," I said, popping the _p_. I bit the tip of my tongue as I smiled, an old habit I'd picked up from Mum. The Doctor seemed to recognize the Rose Tyler in my face, he leaned back in surprise.

"Well, let's get going, then. Plasma coils are never a good thing," I said, shaking my head vigorously as I jumped up from the hospital bed. He stayed for half a moment, only moving when I spoke again. "Allons-y!"

"I still need to meet an Alonzo," the Doctor mused, seemingly forgetting that he hardly knew me, the strange girl that reminded him so much of his Rose.

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><p>AN:

Chapter one, done :)

I hope you're liking it so far :) If not, tell me about it.

I'll be changing the POV's around a bit but I'll always let you know so don't worry about it. If you get confused, it's probably because I messed something up. I'm not perfect, I know that much. Just tell me and I'll edit it.

*addicted to Chameleon Circuit- go look them up on youtube, they're really good*

^.^ Susie ^.^


	3. Chapter 2

A/N:

Wow. No one noticed that this chapter was completely missing. This is why I don't usually have prologues, I get confused and update the wrong chapter. Well, BELATED CHAPTERS!

~the Doctor's POV~

_Who is this girl? Why does she- Does she like bananas? Bananas are good… Lots of potassium… How does she- Jack… How does she know Jack? I left him on the Gamestation years and years in the future! How could he possibly- Time vortex manipulator!_

I was broken out of my thoughts, and rather harshly too, when the entire hospital shook, throwing the girl leading me through the hospital to the floor. It was only then did I realize that she had never told me her name… Of course, I hadn't told her mine but if she knew Jack, she'd already know it.

_That's a bit unfair… Who knows what she knows? Knows… Nose… Hold on, what's that smell? Hmm… iron? Blood? Well, it is a-_

"Oi, Doctor!" The girl shouted, sounding a little angry. "Have you listened to a bloody word I've said? I could have just solved the universe- not that that'd be any fun, of course- but still! Did you even notice the rain? It was going up, not down! I said that it might've been a-"

"Shush," I ordered, my eyes catching Jones and another resident as they walked hurriedly into the room, trying to calm down the patients.

"-everyone back to bed! We've got an emergency, but we'll sort it out. And don't worry," she added, as if it were an after thought. She proceeded to the window as the resident beside her started crying into her hands.

"It's real," Jones almost breathed. "It's really real. Hold on," she said, reaching for the window. The other woman jumped forward, grabbing her arms. The girl beside me- she couldn't have been more than eighteen, poked her head out of the curtain.

"No, don't!" the other resident exclaimed, panicking. I frowned. Panicking humans were dangerous humans, a danger both to themselves and to others. "We'll lose all the air," she cried. Jones frowned.

"But these windows aren't exactly airtight… If the air was gonna get sucked out it would've happened right away but it _didn't_. So how can we-"

"Very good point," I interrupted, drawing the curtain back. Jones turned to face me, her face surprised. "Brilliant, even… What was your name?"

"Martha," she answered, nodding a little incredulously.

"And it was Jones, wasn't it? All right, Martha Jones, the question is, how are we still breathing?" I said, walking towards the window. The strange girl followed me like a shadow, stopping close to Martha Jones.

"But we can't be!" the other resident wailed.

"But obviously we are, so don't waste our time," the girl said, stepping up to meet me at the window. I raised an eyebrow. That was what I was about to say, minus the _our_ of course. She inspected the window just as I was doing.

"Martha, is there a balcony on this floor? A veranda maybe?" she asked the resident. Martha nodded a little distantly.

"By the patients' lounge, yeah," she answered at once, her eyes narrowing with confusion as she studied the girl that had accompanied me. _Or maybe I accompanied her?_

"Fancy going out?" I said, completely serious as I turned back to the three humans. The girl grinned. Martha, looking a little frozen, nodded once.

"Okay," she answered, sounding unsure of her decision.

"We might die," I reminded her. The unknown girl's smile widened.

"We might not," she countered. I looked at her appraisingly.

"Good," I said, smiling slightly. "Come on. Not her, she'd hold us up," I said, pointing to the other resident. We weren't even out the door when she resumed sobbing.

We jogged to the patients' lounge, the girl following close behind. I lowered a hand to the handle before turning back to her.

"I'm sorry, I don't think I caught your name," I said, battling curiousity with courtesy. The girl smiled.

"That's because I didn't give it. I'm Athena. No last name," she said, smiling crookedly, reminding me once again of what- who- I had lost.

"Well, Athena No-Last-Name," I rolled my eyes, gesturing towards the door, "would you do the honors?"

"What, the Doctor doesn't want to open the door?" she smiled. "If you say so… Martha Jones, would you care to join me?" She didn't wait for the my reply, pushing on one side of the door. I followed through as the two women walked onto the balcony.

~Athena's POV~

"We've got air…" Martha said, sounding rather relieved. I bit back a frown. If my theory was right, we wouldn't have air for long. "How does that work?"

"Just be glad it does," the Doctor said, dodging the question like an expert.

"… I've got a party tonight," Martha shared, staring a little sadly at the Earth. "It's my brother's twenty-first. My mother's gonna be there… We…-"

"You okay?" the Doctor asked, staring into her face. She shook her head. "Sure? Wanna go back in?"

"Oh, no way," she replied easily, staring out onto the lunar surface. "I mean, we could die any minute but all the same… It's beautiful."

"You think?"

"How many people want to go to the moon?" Martha asked rhetorically, ignoring the Doctor. "And here we are."

"Standing in the Earthlight," I said, leaning onto the railing. The Doctor looked at me curiously again but now it was my turn to ignore him.

"What do you think happened?"

"Well, Martha Jones, what do you think?" he asked, once again redirecting the question away from himself. Martha paused for a moment, seeming unsure, before plowing on.

"Extra-terrestrial," she said. "I don't know. A few years ago that would've sounded mad, but these days? That spaceship flying into Big Ben, Christmas, those Cybermen things- I had a cousin; Adeola. She worked at Canary Wharf. Never came home," Martha said, her eyes watering slightly. The Doctor's face fell just a fraction.

"I'm sorry," he said sincerely. Only I knew how sorry he was. "I was there. In the battle-"

"I promise you Mr. Smith, we will find a way out. If we can travel to the moon then we can travel back. There's got to be a way."

"It's not Smith," the Doctor said, straightening and walking around Martha in a loose semi-circle. "That's not my real name."

"Who are you then?"

"I'm the Doctor." I'm sure that would've sounded very dramatic if Martha knew what it meant. Judging by her reaction, she didn't.

"Me too, if I could pass my exams," she said, laughing under her breath. "What is it, then? Dr. Smith?"

"Just the Doctor," he said, shaking his head as he paced the balcony.

"How do you mean, just the doctor?"

"Just- the Doctor," he repeated, meeting her eyes. Martha rolled her own.

"What, so people just call you the Doctor?" she said, obviously finding humor in the idea. I nodded, stepping forward.

"Yep, pretty much," I answered for him.

"Not me," Martha laughed. "Around me, you better earn that title."

"Then I better get started, eh?" the Doctor winked towards me. I rolled my eyes, knowing this man was my father, even if he didn't. He stooped down, picking up a rock. "Look; there must be some sort of-" he threw the rock and it bounced off of a force field some way away.

"Force field… Keeping the air in," I confirmed. Martha's eyebrows met.

"But if that's like a bubble sealing us in, that means this is the only air we've got," she said, her eyes darting from the air to the Doctor's face. "What happens when it runs out?"

"How many people in this hospital?" I asked, cutting in.

"Dunno, a thousand?" Martha estimated. I sighed, looking back at the force field.

"One thousand people. Suffocating, on their own breath," I said quietly, staring into the hospital. Martha frowned angrily.

"Why would anyone do that?" she demanded. The ground shook. The Judoon ships flew overhead.

"Looks like we're about to find out," he said, raising an eyebrow to the dark skinned woman and myself. The ships descended and the Judoon began pouring out, all marching in time as they held their weapons aloft.

"Those are aliens… Real, proper aliens," Martha breathed, not knowing that she stood not six feet from an alien and a hybrid. I was humanish, to put it in New Earth terms.

My lip almost curled as I saw the Doctor narrow his eyes slightly.

"Judoon," I answered for him.

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><p>"Oh, look at that down there, you've got a little shop. I like a little shop," the Doctor said happily. I smacked him on the shoulder.<p>

"Never mind that. What are those things?" Martha asked, watching as the Judoon catalogued each human.

"Police. Well, police for hire, anyway," the Doctor mused. "They're more like interplanetary thugs."

"And they've brought us to the moon?" she asked a little incredulously. I nodded.

"Neutral territory. According to galactic law, they've got no jurisdiction over the Earth. That rain, lightening, that was them. It's something called an H2O scoop."

"What's that about galactic law? Where'd you get that from?" Martha asked me, smiling a little condescendingly. I rolled my eyes, backing away from the banister. "If they're police, are we under arrest or something? Are we trespassing on the moon or something?"

"Good thinking, but no… That would be too simple. They're making a catalogue, meaning they're looking for something _non_human, which is very bad news for me," the Doctor said softly.

"Us," I corrected, barely whispering. No one paid me any heed, exactly what I wanted. At least for now.

Martha didn't look away from the Judoon.

"Why?" she breathed. The Doctor and I both looked at her, raising an eyebrow. "Oh, you're kidding me… Don't be ridiculous. Stop looking at me like that."

"Come on," he said quietly, backing away from the plant we were taking refuge in. We all backed away, Martha moving slower than the Doctor and I. We jogged through the hallways, dodging Judoon and patients alike.

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><p>The Doctor and I sat in front of a computer, the former playing with his sonic screwdriver. Martha burst through the door, announcing that the Judoon had made it to the third floor.<p>

"What's that?" she said, staring at the sonic.

"Sonic screwdriver," the Doctor said a little distractedly, messing with the settings. Martha sighed.

"Well, if you're not going to answer me properly-"

"No it is, it's a sonic screwdriver," the Doctor said, defending his second most prized possession. "It's a screwdriver, and it's sonic. See, look-" he pointed the sonic at the screen again before sighing exasperatedly. "What is wrong with this computer?"

"The Judoon must have locked it down," I sighed, pushing him aside and cracking my fingers. "Let me take a crack at it."

"I don't think you'll be able to-" I ignored him, pushing him further away from the computer. "Hm… Judoon platoon upon the moon. You know, I was just traveling past," he defended, exasperated. "I swear, I was just wandering. I wasn't looking for trouble. Honestly, I wasn't, but I noticed these plasma coils around the hospital and there was this line around the hospital, been building up for two days now, so I checked in. I thought something was going on _inside_ but it turns out that the plasma coils were the Judoon up above."

"But what are they looking for?" Martha asked, letting the Doctor finish his rant. I understood, of course. There was a good chance that we wouldn't get out alive. It all depended on who the Judoon found first: us, or the plasmavore.

"Something that looks human but isn't."

"Like you. Apparently," Martha said, still not believing it.

"Like me," he confirmed. I sighed.

"Like _us,_ Doctor. Honestly, the face of Bo is almost my uncle, I know what the hell a Judoon is, know about galactic law- not to mention plasma coils and all that fun stuff- and you seem to refuse the fact that I'm anything but human!"

"Then what are you?"

"Spoilers," I sighed, quoting River Song- a very long, complicated, and messy story in and of herself. "And I'm- no! Damn it! Stupid, thick Judoon! They've cleared the records!"

"Why the bloody hell would they do that?" the Doctor shouted. I sighed, pointing at the screen before standing and looking at the back.

"'Cause they're _thick_. Maybe there's a back-up, or something…"

"What are you looking for, again?" Martha cut in. The Doctor ran a hand through his hair, trying to vent his stress. _I did that too._

"I don't know, any patient admitted in the past week with unusual symptoms? Gonna be a shape-changer, no doubt," the Doctor said vaguely, pulling his sonic to the computer.

"Oh, gimme that," I ordered, relieving him of his sonic. I adjusted the setting before handing it back to him. "Honestly, you're going to break that thing one of these days. It's not like you can even go get a new one, seeing as you blew up the factory. You'll have to wait until the TARDIS thinks you can handle another one."

"Bananas are good," he countered absently, playing with the computer. Martha sighed, backing away.

"You two do… whatever you're doing. I'm going to go see if Mr. Stoker has any idea what we're looking for," Martha volunteered. She left without another word, running towards the office. I reached over to the sonic again, adjusting it one more time.

"You keep… changing it without… meaning to," I said, changing it back. I didn't return the sonic, instead restoring the backup myself.

"How d'you know how to work a sonic?" the Doctor asked, sounding a little hurt. I chuckled, already flicking through the records…

"Shut it, you… Aha! Found her!"

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><p>AN:

Mwahahaaaa. Not really. I'm sleepy...

*yawn* Susie ^.^


	4. Chapter 4

A/N:

Sorry it's taking me so long to update. I know it's been a month+ since my last update but school has to come first, or so my shoulder angel. Though I must admit, fanfiction is infinitely more fun.

I don't own Doctor Who, unfortunately.

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><p>~Athena's POV~<p>

"I've restored the-"

"_I_'ve restored the backup!" I corrected the Doctor loudly as he collided with Martha. She looked panicky and short of breath, explained by her next three words.

"I found her," she explained. The Doctor's eyes widened slightly.

"What?"

"Well, don't just stand there! Run!" I shouted as the doors to Mr. Stoker's office blew apart.

I led the way down the back stairs, closely followed by one of the Slabs. We hit the fourth floor… just in time for the Judoon to show up. I grabbed the two and pushed them into the hallway, running and thinking. Coming up with the very basics of a plan, I ran towards the X-ray, located very conveniently on this floor.

"When I say go, push that button!" I shouted, pushing Martha into the booth. She looked panicked at my sudden request.

"But I don't know which one!"

"Then find out!" the Doctor, already having caught on, shouted. "Athena, get in the booth. The radiation will kill you."

"No it won't, trust me on this one," I insisted. Radiation was no big deal. I'd spent enough time with Torchwood to know that much.

The Doctor, armed with his sonic, began to tweak the X-ray machine, magnifying the radiation to 50x, more than enough to kill a Slab. The Slab itself rammed itself against the door, bending the metal hinges until they snapped apart.

"Now!: the Doctor and I shouted in unison. Martha, in the booth, slammed her palm onto a large yellow button. The room pulsed with the radiation, filling the Slab's body as well as the Doctor's and my own. The Slab fell to the ground, dead, and Martha looked up at the Doctor, still in the booth.

"What did you do?"

"Increased the radiation by 5,000 percent. Killed him dead."

"But isn't that gonna kill the both of you?" she said, her eyes darting from me to the Doctor. I smiled, letting the Doctor answer.

"Nah, only a right bit of radiation. Play with that in the nursery. Oh, it's safe for you to come out now, we've absorbed it all. All I need to do is… expel it," he said, already shaking. I felt the urge to do the same and it wasn't long before I was concentrating the radiation to my shoe. We jumped up and down, the both of us shouting at the sensation as Martha looked on, incredulous.

"Out! Out! Ow! Ah! No! Itches! Itches! Oh, no! Hold on! Ah, no!" I grabbed my left shoe, my foot beginning to burn slightly, tossing it into the bin. I glanced down before tossing the other in as well. The Doctor's shoe joined it the next second.

"Done," I sighed, grinning at both Martha and the Doctor. The Doctor grinned crookedly back. Martha's head tilted to the side, at a loss for words.

"You're completely mad," she said, completely serious.

"You're right… I look daft with one shoe…" He removed his other shoe, his toes wriggling, and chuckled. "Barefoot on the moon with a Judoon platoon… Haven't said that before. Anyway, that's just a Slab."

"Basic slave drone. Solid leather, this one," I nodded. The Doctor went back to the X-ray machine, pulling out his now crispy sonic. He stared at in, shaken.

"My sonic screwdriver," he murmured, his mouth open in disbelief.

"She was one of the patients but-"

"No, no, my sonic screwdriver," the Doctor continued, disregarding Martha as she began to describe Mrs. Finnegan.

"She had this straw like some sort of _vampire_."

"I _love_ my sonic screwdriver," the Doctor pouted.

"Doctor!" Martha called, trying to get his attention. And there it was. The sonic was forgotten, literally tossed aside as the Doctor turned to face the actual doctor.

"Sorry, what? You called me Doctor," he realized, grinning. Martha sighed.

"Anyway," she began, "Mrs. Finnegan is the alien. She was drinking Mr. Stoker's blood."

"Funny time to take a snack, you'd think she'd be hiding…" The Doctor's voice drifted off and I jumped in.

"Unless she is hiding, Doctor. Shape-changer. Internal shape-changer," I said quietly.

"Ah, of course!" the Doctor shouted, smacking himself in the head. "Why didn't I think of that! She wasn't drinking blood, she was _assimilating_ it!"

"That means she'll register as a human," I explained to Martha. She nodded in understanding. "We've got to find her and show the Judoon before they finish their search. Otherwise they'll accuse the hospital of hiding a fugitive."

"Which means?"

"Execution. End of the line," the Doctor grimaced, already racing out the door. "Come on!"

* * *

><p>We hid behind a wall, waiting for the Slab's partner to pass. When it did, the Doctor sighed.<p>

"That's the thing about Slabs. They always travel in pairs."

"What about you?"

"What about me what?"

"Well, haven't you got backup? You must have a partner or something? You don't look like you've known this one-" she said, gesturing to me, crouching behind them, "-for very long."

"Ah, humans! We're stuck on the moon, running out of air with Judoon and a blood-sucking criminal and you're asking personal questions? Come on, then."

"Well, I like that. Humans," she scoffed. "Still not convinced you're an alien."

She was forced to eat her words when a Judoon, complete with a cataloger, scanned the Doctor before announcing the truth.

"Nonhuman," it growled, reaching for a gun. Martha gasped.

"Oh my god, you really are an alien?"

"And again!" the Doctor shouted, grabbing both my and Martha's hands and leading us down the hallway, running of course. Lasers were fired, one missing by centimeters, and we ducked for cover. We ran to the stairs, echoes of stomping boots following us.

We dashed onto a floor the Judoon had already checked, trying to step around people in the corridors. The oxygen, or lack thereof, was beginning to be felt with the humans. Timelords weren't as drastically effected, our systems were much more efficient, but I could tell that Martha wouldn't be able to keep running. Not at this rate.

"How are you doing?" I asked her. She exhaled deeply, nodding.

"Running on adrenaline," she responded. The Doctor smiled.

"Welcome to my world."

"What about the Judoon?"

"Great big lung reserves; they won't get slowed down. Where's Mr. Stoker's office?"

"It's this way," Martha said, a little breathless as she stood, already walking. We turned a corner to find Mr. Stoker's office, the doors barely hanging onto the hinges. I walked to Mr. Stoker's body, trying to breathe steadily past the view. He was gray, every drop of blood drained from his system via bendy straw. His eyes stared without seeing at the ceiling. He was just two years from retiring. He had a daughter in college that he'd never get to see again. It was all in Torchwood's report.

"What is she doing now? She's still not safe, the Judoon could execute us all," the Doctor thought out loud, already standing. Kneeling by Mr. Stoker's head, I gently lowered his eyelids before murmuring a quick apology and following the Doctor to the door. Martha's eyes saddened but she followed us away.

"Think, think, think… If I was a wanted plasmavore surrounded by police, what would I do?" The Doctor looked up, only to see a sign: MRI. "Aww, she's as clever as me… Almost."

Screaming. That was all that filled my ears as the Judoon forced the door open. Humans fanned out in a panic and the Doctor ran his hand through his already messy brown hair anxiously.

"Martha, stay here. I need time, you've got to hold them up."

"How do I do that?" Martha asked, panicking again.

"Just- Forgive me for this, it could save a thousand people and means nothing. Honestly, nothing." The words were barely out of his mouth before he was plastered against the woman. I felt the need to gag at the sight. He might be immortal but he's still my dad. Nobody needs to see their dad snogging anyone, especially someone who was definitely not your mother.

The Doctor was already gone. Martha was dazed. The Judoon marched closer. I glanced pointedly at her before running off towards the MRI, where one plasmavore was almost definitely need to assimilate again if they increased the searches.

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><p>All was according to plan. I didn't even open the door. All I saw was that plasmavore drinking from the Doctor's neck with a bendy straw as her second Slab held him down. It was too easy to slip in behind the Judoon and make sure they rescanned her.<p>

"Now see what you've done? This poor man just died of fright!" the plasmavore exclaimed.

"Scan him," a Judoon ordered. The blue light was shown upon the Doctor and the test came back negative for life. "Confirmation: deceased."

"No, he can't be! Let me through, let me through," Martha said, pushing her way past the Judoon. I followed closely, careful to avoid looking suspicious. "Let me see him!"

"Stop!" a Judoon ordered. "Case closed."

"But it was her… She killed him, she did it. She _murdered_ him."

"Judoon have no authority over human crime."

"But she's not human," Martha insisted. The plasmavore smiled.

"Oh, but I am. I've been catalogued," she boasted, holding up her hand to show the X the Judoon had given her.

"But she's not! She assimi- Wait a minute, you drank his blood? The Doctor's blood?" she said, glancing down at the Doctor. She whirled behind her, grabbing a cataloger from one of the Judoon and flashing the light onto the plasmavore.

"Go ahead, scan all you like," the plasmavore smiled smugly. Then the noise on the cataloger changed and the lead Judoon grunted.

"Nonhuman. Confirm analysis." The plasmavore took half a step back.

"Surely there's a mistake. I mean, I'm human. I'm as human as they come," the plasmavore droned, her voice becoming less sure and more frantic as each scan showed the same result: nonhuman.

"He gave his life so they'd find you," Martha said, looking at the plasmavore in disgust.

"Confirm: plasmavore. Charged with the crime of murdering the child princess of Pantravore Region C-9."

"Well she deserved it! Those pink cheeks and those blond curls and that simpering voice! She was begging for the bite of a plasmavore!"

"Then you confess?" The Judoon growled.

"Confess? I'm _proud_ of it! Slab, stop them!" she ordered, rushing into the MRI room. A Judoon grabbed his laser as the remaining Slab began to march towards us. He pointed the weapon at the drone, frying it dead. It evaporated into smoke and dust, flying away.

"Verdict: guilty. Sentence: execution." The plasmavore ignored her own sentencing, splicing together and separating different wires and cords inside the machine. A loud warning alarm rang out, drawing my eyes to a red and black sign as it flashed _Magnetic Overload_, plain for all to see.

"Enjoy your victory, Judoon," the criminal sneered through the window. "But you're gonna burn with me, burn in _hell_!"

The Judoon raised its weapon to the booth, shooting and killing the plasmavore through the window. Martha rushed to the Doctor and I rushed to the equipment, wishing I had the sonic now.

"Case closed," the Judoon announced gruffly.

"But, what did she mean, 'burn with me'? The scanner shouldn't be doin' that; she's done something," Martha said, only now noticing the MRI as electromagnetic energy flowed off of it in waves and sparks. The head Judoon walked over to it, scanning it with his cataloger.

"Scans detect lethal acceleration of mono-magnetic pulse," he reported.

"Well do something, stop it," Martha said as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. I didn't spare the time to throw her a withering glance as my eyes scanned the equipment.

"Our jurisdiction has ended," the Judoon said with finality. That had been the response I'd been expecting. "Judoon will evacuate."

"What?" Martha said, her eyes wide. "Well you can't just leave it. What's it gonna do?"

"All units withdraw," he said into a communicator, ignoring the human doctor. The Judoon marched out, followed by Martha.

"You can't go! That thing is gonna explode and it's _your fault_!" she yelled, her anger getting the better of her. The Judoon kept walking and she ran back into the room.

"What are we gonna do?" she asked me, kneeling next to the Doctor. I saw the determined panic and nodded.

"He needs CPR," I reported, not looking at my father. Martha nodded, her lips a narrow line, and I resumed my tinkering and rewiring.

"One, two, three, four, five," Martha counted out loud. I sighed exasperatedly, the noise swallowed by the MRI.

"He's got two hearts!" I reminded her, shouting over the alarm. She nodded, her eyes never leaving the Doctor, and resumed counting.

I could feel the oxygen begin to drain out of the room. It didn't affect me too badly but I could see the toll it was taking on Martha. Sweat appeared on her forehead but she kept going, determined to bring the Doctor back.

"Come on, come on," I growled, staring at the machinery. A noise cut into my concentration: a gasp. I glanced up for half a second, long enough to see the Doctor sit up, his eyes red and wide, and Martha fall, breathing shallowly and gasping for air.

"The scanner," she said, her eyes closing. "She-did something-"

The Doctor began to sit up, coughing as Martha's eyes closed. He struggled to his feet and I saw blue electromagnetic pulses begin to circulate throughout the building.

"'Bout time you're up," I said, rushing over the words as my hands rearranged the wires. "Allonsy," I murmured, grabbing the thickest red cable I could find, my hands resting on the plug before pulling it apart. I released a relieved sigh as the MRI began to shut down, the blue pulses slowing to a stop.

"No- sonic," the Doctor coughed. I nodded distantly, falling half a step backwards as the oxygen deprivation began to find its way to my nervous system. I stumbled into the main room, flashing a victorious smile to the Doctor before collapsing myself, my almost human lungs not able to compensate anymore.

~The Doctor's POV~

I watched as that brilliant puzzle of a girl, Athena No-Last-Name, sank to the floor, landing beside Martha. I was surprised that she had held on this long. Even if she was alien, which I doubted quite a bit, her lungs wouldn't have been able to process this thin- I could feel my lungs beginning to shrink into themselves, trying to breath when there wasn't anything compatible.

_Let us go, damn it!_

I glanced out the window, sinking to my knees myself. I felt my face shift into a ghost of a smile, all I could manage after Canary Wharf, as I saw the rain splattering the window.

"Hey," the girl coughed, still conscious despite the lack of oxygen. I raised an eyebrow, impressed at her resilience- Martha was out cold. "It's raining upside-down on the moon, Doctor."

"So it is, Athena No-Last-Name," I smiled, almost despite myself.

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><p>AN:

I'm going to update again tonight and probably again tomorrow. I think you guys have earned it :)

I hope you like it so far, leave me a review and tell me what you think,

^.^ Susie ^.^


	5. Chapter 5

A/N:

WARNING! This is not the first update I've done today. If you haven't already, go back one chapter (to chapter 2) and start from there. Thank you ^.^

I don't own Doctor Who, only Athena is mine :)

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><p>~Athena's POV~<p>

I leaned back in the Captain's chair in the TARDIS, waiting for the Doctor to come back inside, his tie in his hand. It was yesterday morning again. _Gotta love time travel_.

A metallic ringing found its way into my ears, echoed by seemingly random bleeps and clicks. It all translated in my head, forming a coherent statement. I laughed.

"What are you going on about?… He did what? How do you break a chameleon circuit? Did he even try to fix- Oh, of course he did," I said, rolling my eyes. I could feel the TARDIS laughing with me as the Doctor opened the door.

_And he never opens the door right,_ the TARDIS grumbled in my mind. The Doctor, picking up on the telepathy, stopped moving, his tie in his hand. He looked around warily.

"What's going on here?" he asked suspiciously. I had to laugh, jumping back and placing a hand affectionately on the console.

"Your friend and I were having a nice little chat… You should really stop _trying_ to fix her," I said, smiling at my father. Who still didn't know who he was to me.

_I like this one,_ the TARDIS almost purred. The Doctor pouted. _By the way, she agrees with me on the whole chameleon-circuit thing._

"I agreed. Then I noticed how wonderfully blue that blue is," the Doctor smiled, trying to save the conversation. I glanced at the console and laughed as another thought drifted into my head.

"Though I must say, 'Oncoming Storm', it is nice to meet you," I said, holding out my hand. The Doctor's eyebrow went even higher, almost meeting his hairline. He still accepted my hand and, judging from how he stiffened, I didn't imagine the spark.

"Likewise, Athena No-Last-Name."

"Just Athena. You aren't the only one hiding their name," I shrugged. "Although you should probably talk to my mum before the TARDIS kidnaps me."

"What, now?" the Doctor asked, his hand frozen on the console. His other hand held a mallet aloft, dangerously close to the atom accelerator.

_She's coming with us,_ the TARDIS informed him evenly. The Doctor pouted, about to object. I slid the mallet out of his hand and ignored his protests, already flying around the console.

"So I… flip the… and twist this… twice? Yes," I smiled victoriously, typing into the spatial location input as the Doctor looked on incredulously. "And then-" I pumped the

"How does she- Did you-?" he drifted off as we began to dematerialize. The TARDIS laughed with me.

_I might have helped her catch on a bit… She's a natural, this one. Even better than River._

"Who?"

"Spoilers," the TARDIS and I said in unison. I laughed again, that beautiful noise that was the result of leaving the handbrake on filling the air. I waited for the Doctor leave the control room first, grinning victoriously all the while. He glanced once at the console before sighing, putting a smile on for Martha, and marching outside, putting his tie on.

"See? Told ya," he said, grinning at the woman. Her jaw fell.

"But- that was this morning!" she exclaimed. I stepped around the Doctor, smiling as Martha's mind tried to wrap around the idea of time traveling aliens that live in blue boxes.

"Yep," the Doctor said, popping the _p_, just like I did. We both waited for her to catch on, her mouth moving soundlessly.

"But if you could see me this morning, then why didn't you just tell me not to go in to work?" she asked.

"Because then you wouldn't be here, asking me that," the Doctor nodded importantly. Martha bit her lip.

"Crossing into established events is forbidden," I said, remembering what Mum told me. "My mum learned that one the hard way. You recognized the Doctor because he took off his tie this morning. It was already written into the timeline."

"Who is your mum?" Martha asked, looking honestly curious. I saw the poorly disguised curiousity in his brown eyes.

"Spoilers," I sighed. "I can't tell you. This isn't the right time, according to a very reliable source."

"And what source would that be?"

"Captain Jack Harkness. He said you'd panic and faint. Not something you should do in front of a possible companion," I said, glancing pointedly at Martha.

"Well, who am I to ignore Jack's wishes?" the Doctor rolled his eyes, trying to conceal his remaining curiousity.

"So this is your spaceship?" Martha said out of the blue. I noticed the almost disappointment in her voice.

"It's called the TARDIS," the Doctor clarified. "Time and Relevant Dimension in Space."

She reached a hand out to the TARDIS, frowning. "Your spaceship is made out of wood," she informed us. She circled the legendary box.

"Though there's not much room, would be a bit intimate, wouldn't it?" Martha commented quietly. I saw the mischievous light enter the Doctor's eyes and I smiled.

"Take a look," he said, gesturing into the box. Martha, looking very skeptical, opened the door and gasped. She took two steps inside, followed by the Doctor, who made his way to the console, before she backed out the door. I watched, barely holding in a laugh as she circled the TARDIS again.

"No, no, no… But- that's impossible!" she said, her eyes wide as she glanced in between the Doctor and I. "It's just a- a wooden box!"

I strode into the room, perching in the Captain's chair as Martha continued voicing her thoughts.

"But it's _huge_! How's it do that? It's like- it's like a box with all that room just _crammed_ in there!" she said, now walking tentatively into the control room. Both the Doctor and I saw that light in her eyes, the recognition as her mind made a connection. The Doctor dashed behind her, just in time to mouth the words behind her back.

"It's bigger on the inside," she breathed. The Doctor grinned lopsidedly.

"Is it now? I haven't noticed," the Doctor said childishly, laughing at Martha's rather dumbstruck expression before bounding up the ramp towards the console, flying around. The TARDIS immediately began to protest, shooting up the occasional spark and urging me to take over.

"Oi, no favoritism, you," the Doctor murmured, wagging his finger at the console. Another spark shot up, just in front of him and I laughed, stepping up to the console.

"All right, let's get going," I grinned, glancing at Martha as she stepped nervously towards the console looking very afraid.

"Isn't there a crew? Like a navigator or something? Where is everyone?" she asked, walking slowly around the room, her eyes wide and disbelief coloring her voice.

"Just me," the Doctor said, playing around with the TARDIS distractedly.

"All on your own?" Martha asked. I smiled, leaning back in the Captain's chair. I'd like to see how he answered that one.

"Well," he said, drawing the word out. "Sometimes I have… guests; you know, friends. Traveling alongside. I had- There was recently-" he paused, staring at his hands as he played with the console. "-a friend of mine. Rose, her name was, Rose. And… we were together and- Anyway," he drifted off, bouncing towards the monitor.

"Where is she now?" Martha asked after a moment of silence.

"With her family, happy; she's fine," the Doctor answered too quickly. "Not that your replacing her," he continued, pointing at her with a determined expression. I rolled my eyes.

"Never said I was," she assured him, smiling all the while.

"Just one trip. To say thanks. You get one trip and then it's back home," he rambled, still pointing at her.

"Well," Martha said, leaning on a railing with a mischievous smile on her face. "You're the one who kissed me."

"That was a genetic transfer."

"And you go all across the universe to ask me on a date," she continued, grinning.

"Now, stop it," he argued. Even I could hear the humor in his voice but I cleared my throat regardless.

"Should I go take a lap in the swimming pool, leave you two alone?" I teased. Both the Doctor and Martha jumped at my voice and I rolled my eyes.

"For the record, I only go for humans," Martha announced.

"Good," the Doctor said, flying around the console. He fired up the various tools and settings before resting his hand on the non-functional handbrake, purely for show.

"And finally, the handbrake," he grinned towards Martha. "Ready?"

"No," she said a little nervously. It was the excited kind of nervous though, the moment before the adrenaline rush kicks in. I grinned.

"Hold onto something, Martha Jones," I suggested.

"Off we go," the Doctor grinned, pulling down on the handbrake and sending the TARDIS into the time vortex. True to my prediction, Martha was thrown to the ground as the Doctor and I held onto the console.

"Blimey, it's a bit- bumpy!" she shouted over the time rotor.

"Welcome aboard, Miss Jones, Athena," the Doctor replied loudly, somehow offering both of us a hand without tumbling to the ground. Without hesitating, I gripped his hand, offering my other to Martha. We formed a strange triangle over the console, balancing ourselves against the others to keep standing.

"My pleasure, Doctor," I laughed.

* * *

><p>AN:

A shorter chapter, but not too bad. Again, leave me a review, even if you don't have anything to say! Just say hi, or tell me to read something else. I like knowing that someone cares enough about my stories to write even a few words. I read each and every review and reply more often than not.

^.^ Susie ^.^


	6. Chapter 6

A/N:

As promised, here is the next chapter :)

Hope you like it,

I don't own Doctor Who :'(

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><p>~Athena's POV~<p>

"But _how _do you travel in time? I mean, what makes it go?" Martha asked, watching the Doctor as he turned some wheel or other.

"Ah, Martha, trying to take all the fun and mystery out of everything," the Doctor chuckled, his other hand moving towards the keyboard as I watched the monitor. "You don't want to know; it just does," he insisted.

"Hold on tight," I called, staring at the numbers running across the screen. The Doctor moved his foot to alter a setting, causing a spark to fly up from the console.

_I'm not a piece of furniture,_ the TARDIS scolded. I laughed, pushing his foot out of the way and adjusting the pyroplasmic converter myself. _Thank you, Miss Tyler,_ she said to me, and only me. I grinned at the console as Martha was tossed to the ground, landing on her butt.

"Blimey, d'you have to pass a test to fly this thing?" Another spark flew up and I laughed at the TARDIS's indignation at being called 'this thing'.

"Yes, and I fly it," he said. The TARDIS informed me that had not passed it in any of the four times he'd taken it.

"Alright, I promised you one trip and one trip only," he said, shrugging into his coat as he walked towards the door. Martha strayed while I followed him easily.

"Come on, then," I coaxed.

"Beyond this door," he continued, pausing and turning around so that his back was pressed against the door. "Brave new world."

"Where are we?" I glanced back at the monitor.

"Take a look," he said, opening the door. If he'd opened it further, it would have revealed Shakespearian London, thatched roofs and all. "After you."

Martha smiled, biting her lower lip, before striding down the ramp and out the door.

"Oh, you're kidding me," she murmured, her eyes wide. "You're so kidding me. Oh my god, we did it! We traveled in _time_! Where are we? No. Sorry, gotta get used to this; whole new language. When are we?"

"Mind out," the Doctor said, pulling us both back as someone above emptied a chamber pot into the street.

"Somewhere before the invention of the toilet," I offered, stepping around the mess. The Doctor shrugged.

"Sorry 'bout that," he said a little sheepishly.

"I've seen worse, working the late night shift daily. But are we safe? I mean, can we move around and stuff?"

"Course we can. Why do you ask?" the Doctor asked, oblivious to human sci-fi and how much it stressed paradoxes. Honestly, even I found it ridiculous and I'm half human!

"It's like in the films!" Martha said like it was the most obvious thing in the world. "You step on a butterfly and you change the future of the human race."

"I'll tell you what," I cut in. "Just avoid stepping on any butterflies, 'kay?"

"What've butterflies every done to you?" the Doctor continued, his serious voice contrasting heavily with the teasing light in his eyes. Too bad that light disappeared when he turned away from us.

"What if- I don't know… What if I kill my grandfather or something?" she asked again. I raised an eyebrow at her and the Doctor turned around, a surprised look on his face.

"Are you planning to?" he asked, sounding honestly curious.

"No," she scoffed. I grinned.

"Well, then. Don't have to worry about that then," I rolled my eyes. "So… London. I'd say Shakespeare's day. Fifteen…"

"Ninety-nine," the Doctor finished, glancing around.

"Well am I alright then? Not gonna get carried off as a slave or something, am I?" Martha asked a little tiredly. The Doctor turned again.

"Why would they do that?" he asked, his jaw dropping slightly, his eyes trying to be serious. Martha rolled her eyes, pointing to her face.

"Not exactly white, am I?"

"We're not even human," I pointed out. "Just walk about like you own the place. Usually works for me."

"What d'you mean, usually?"

"Half-alien, me," I reminded the two. "I was pretty close with Torchwood. If I'd stayed another year I probably would've taken up an official position in their developmental and analytical technologies department." The Doctor's eyes darkened slightly.

"Torchwood," he grimaced, his eyes narrowed. I shook my head.

"Confession time, I guess. I'm not actually from this timeline. If Mum and I had stayed, lived our lives the boring linear way, then I'd be growing up in a good three decades and in another universe. Funny how that works, isn't it?"

"What'd ya mean, another universe?" Martha asked. The Doctor stopped dead in his tracks, his eyes roaming my face.

"How'd you get into this universe?" He asked, suddenly serious and pulling Martha and I off to the side. I sighed, letting myself be dragged along.

"A favor."

"From who?" he very nearly growled.

"Bad Wolf."

~The Doctor's POV~

"Bad Wolf," Athena answered, looking a little annoyed at me. _Bad Wolf. _Those two words I'd grown to beware, to hate, to love, and then to miss. Two words I wasn't sure I'd ever hear again.

A lump grew in my throat, very uncharacteristically and untimely.

"How do you know about that?" I asked, my voice sounding rather monotonous to my ears. I stared into her eyes, trying not to notice how familiar her face looked. She smiled that breathtakingly beautiful smile I'd only seen on one other person: Rose Marion Tyler.

My brain kicked into overdrive.

_She's from another universe. How is that even possible? Even with Bad W- Rose's help, I _closed_ the gap! Nothing in, nothing out. The Cybermen and the daleks all nicely packed into the Void. Myself in this universe. Rose in the other._

"I'm sure she'd rather explain that to you herself. I'll take you to her after we introduce Martha to Shakespeare. I'm sure she wouldn't want to miss that," Athena said quietly, trying to compromise. I felt my face harden and I nodded tightly, already walking away.

"Hold on a minute," Martha said, shaking her head with the new information. "Shakespeare? As in _the _William Shakespeare?" I put on a smile for the human, just as I could tell Athena was.

"Oh, yes! Globe Theatre!" I shouted, running down the street and towards the thirteen sided building. Martha and Athena followed closely behind me, stopping just before I did. "Brand new! Just opened! Though, strictly speaking, it's not a globe. It's a tetradecagon, fourteen sides. Containing: the man himself."

"You don't mean-"

"Oh yes," I grinned, watching Athena roll her eyes in my peripheral vision. "Miss Jones, Miss Athena, would you accompany me to the theater?" I held out both of my arms. Martha laughed under her breath, taking my proffered arm while Athena raised an eyebrow.

"I don't know, Doctor. Respectable stranger with two women on his arm? What would the queen think?" she teased. Martha laughed, pulling me towards the theater. Athena cut in front of us, taking the lead.

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><p>AN:

Yay, chapter! Leave me a review and tell me what you think, m'kay? This is my first published Doctor Who fic, I want to know how I'm doing.

Thanks to everyone who favorited, reviewed, or is following this story x3

^.^ Susie ^.^


	7. Chapter 7

A/N: Not much to say...

If you want an explanation for my absence, check out my profile. I don't feel like depressing-up my stories.

I don't earn Doctor Who, unfortunately -.-'

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><p>~Athena's POV~<p>

The Globe Theatre was absolutely _packed_ with people. I could barely shift my weight without sitting on someone, namely Martha or my father as I had somehow gotten in between them. The crowds cheered and we gave a standing ovation.

Martha grinned at the stage.

"That's amazing, just _amazing_!" she beamed towards the Doctor and I. I smiled at her. "Worth putting up with the smell, definitely. And those are men dressed as women, yeah?"

The Doctor sighed, nodding.

"Londoners," he joked.

"Where's Shakespeare? I wanna see Shakespeare," Martha laughed. "Author! Author!" she shouted before pausing and looking at us. "Do people do that? Do people shout author?"

She had hardly finished the question when a man's voice echoed hers'.

"Author! Author!" I winked at her.

"They do now," the Doctor chuckled as other voices joined in until the entire theater was shouting for a glimpse of the playwright. Right on cue, the man himself jumped through the actors, waving and smiling to the masses and blowing the occasional kiss. I resisted rolling my eyes.

"Bit different from his portraits," Martha commented, noticing just how… cute Shakespeare was. _Good thing Jack isn't here._

"Genius," the Doctor almost breathed. "The genius genius; the most human _human_ there's ever been. And now, _we're gonna hear him speak_!" he finished excitedly. I saw Martha suck in a breath expectantly as the man opened his mouth.

"Oh, shut your big fat mouths!" Shakespeare called out to the crowds, grinning all the while. The assembled people, young and old, rich and poor, all laughed in reply. The Doctor looked rather disappointed.

"You should never meet your heroes," Martha advised him. I laughed.

"You've got excellent taste, I'll give you that! Oh, that's a wig!" _the _William Shakespeare announced, pointing into the crowd. The peoples laughed and turned to the man in question.

"I know what you're all saying: Loves Labors Lost, now that's a funny ending, isn't it? It just _stops_. Will the boys get the girls? Well, you'll find out soon," he continued, earning shouts and cheers from the crowd once more. "Yeah, yeah, all in good time! You know, you can't rush a genius!" He bowed and a shudder went through him. He glance up before looking back at the central crowd.

"When?" he asked rhetorically. "Tomorrow night! The premier of my brand new play; a sequel, no less. I call it: Loves Labors Won!"

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><p>"I may be an expert, but I've never heard of Loves Labors Won," I announced as we filed out of the theater. Shakespeare had been one of my favorite authors when I was three or four. The way he managed to entertain everyone all at once, make watching or reading his work worthwhile to anyone, amazed me.<p>

"Yeah, me neither," Martha said, her eyes narrowed in confusion.

"Exactly," the Doctor almost sighed. "It's a lost play. Doesn't exist, only rumors of it. There've been mentions but they never've really turned up and no one knows why."

"Have you got a mini-disk or something? We can tape it, take it home and make a mint," Martha said, glancing up to the disapproval on the Doctor's face.

"No," he said evenly.

"That would be bad," I continued.

"Yeah," Martha nodded, glancing at the ground. "So how come it disappeared in the first place?"

"Well, I was just gonna give you a quick little trip in the TARDIS-"

"Yeah, like that's Gallifreyanly possible," I interrupted.

"-But I guess we could stay a bit longer," the Doctor finished, ignoring me.

* * *

><p>And that is how we found ourselves at The Elephant, right down the hall from William Shakespeare as he worked at his desk.<p>

"Hello?" the Doctor called, rushing towards the door and knocking on the wall. I rushed up behind him, just hidden behind the door and a little caught unawares at his newest behavior. I glanced around him into the room to see Shakespeare, two of his actors, and a maid going through her work across the room. "Am I interrupting something?"

"Not a problem," Shakespeare said, shrugging.

"Mr. Shakespeare, isn't it?" the Doctor smiled, thoroughly enjoying himself.

"No, no, who let you in? I'm not giving away any autographs or anything and please don't ask where I get my- Hello," he said in a completely different, much less tired, tone as I stepped into the room and joined the Doctor.

"Sit right down next to me," he smiled. I held my tongue, not wanting to offend one of the, if not the, most famous playwright in Earth's history. Another woman came into the room, shooing the actors out.

"Come on, boys. I think our William's found his new muse," she smiled knowingly towards the playwright and then at me.

"Sweet lady. Such unusual clothes," he said, glancing at my attire. I looked down at my embroidered black tank top, my short black skirt, and my high top Converse. "So well fitting."

I admit it. I blushed. It's not every day you get complimented by Shakespeare.

"I'm Sir Doctor of TARDIS, this is-"

"Lady Athena of Gallifrey," I offered. "And my companion, Miss Martha Jones."

I watched as the Doctor pulled out his physic paper, showing it to Shakespeare. I saw it as the blank page it was. I didn't expect, and neither did the Doctor, for Shakespeare to see through the filter.

"That's interesting. That page is blank," he announced, gesturing towards the white piece of paper. The Doctor smiled, shaking his head in disbelief.

"Oh that's very clever. That proves it," the Doctor said, quite happily stunned. "Absolute genius."

"No, it says right there: Sir Doctor, Lady Athena, and Martha Jones," the woman said, turning the paper towards her.

"Well, I say it's blank," Shakespeare countered.

"It's, um, physic paper. It- Long story. Ugh, I hate long stories," he sighed, putting the booklet back into his coat pocket. Shakespeare leaned back in his chair.

"Physic. Never heard that word before, and words are my trade. Who are you exactly? And more importantly who are your delicious ladies?"

"Excuse me?" Martha raised an eyebrow. Shakespeare backtracked ever so slightly.

"Have I said something to offend," he said, taking Martha's hand and kissing it. She blushed. _Oh, Shakespeare. Such a flirt._

"Martha's from a far off land, Freedonia," the Doctor improvised.

"And where are you from, m'lady?" he asked, meeting my eyes.

"Wouldn't you care to know, Mr. Shakespeare?" I winked. He raised an eyebrow and the door was opened rather abruptly.

"Excuse me, hold on a moment," a rather unattractive man said, stepping into the room. "This is abominable behavior. A new play, with no warning? I demand to see a script, Mr. Shakespeare. As Master of the Revels, every new script must be sent through my office and examined by me before it can be performed."

"Tomorrow morning, first thing, I'll send it 'round," Shakespeare said, brushing off the man and leaning back in his chair.

"I don't believe I work to your schedule. You work to mine. The script, _now_!"

"I can't," Shakespeare insisted.

"Then tomorrow's performance is cancelled," the man grinned maliciously. The maid looked up curiously at him before exiting the room quietly. "I'm returning to my office for a banning order. If it's the last thing I do, Loves Labors Won will never be played."

"Well, that's one mystery solved," Martha began. She opened her mouth to say more, only to be interrupted by a scream. All four of us were immediately to our feet, the Doctor and I leading the way down to the street. The screams kept up and we soon found ourselves staring at the Master of the Revels, a man by the name of Lynley, I believe, coughing up a stream of water.

"It's that Lynley bloke from before," Martha said, just watching.

"Leave it to me, I'm a doctor," the Doctor said, pulling out a handy-dandy stethoscope.

"So am I," Martha said, joining him as he stepped forward. Lynley, clutching his chest, fell forwards, still spouting out water. Martha flipped him over, trying to listen for a heartbeat.

"Mr. Lynley? Can you hear me? You're gonna be alright," she murmured, about to start CPR. She opened his mouth, only to be meet with yet more water. Martha fell backwards, clearly disturbed. "What the hell is that!"

"I've never seen a death like it, his lungs are filled with water. He drowned," the Doctor said quietly. I edged closer before casting a glance around. The maid from before watched us with a decidedly proud expression and I grimaced.

The Doctor jumped up from the body, his eyes finding the mistress of The Elephant, staring at the scene in shock.

"Good mistress, this poor fellow has died, from a sudden imbalance of the humors- natural if unfortunate demise. Can you have him taken away?"

"Yes sir," she nodded. She turned, only to be told by the same maid that she was able to do it instead.

"And why are you telling them that?" Martha asked the Doctor and I quietly.

"This lot just came from the Dark Ages. If we tell 'em how he really died they'll panic and think it was witchcraft," I explained.

"So what really happened?"

"Witchcraft?" the Doctor shrugged, looking up at us.

* * *

><p>AN:

Keep in mind that Athena is a young, at least relative to Martha, so Shakespeare won't pursue her _too_ thoroughly. Of course, a little shameless flirting won't kill anyone- or any buterflies ;)- so there will be the occasional banter.

I'm actually going to update a couple, maybe three times, tonight because of my unintentional hiatus. I'll have the usual warning at the beginning of any new chapters, though, so don't worry.

^.^ Susie ^.^


	8. Chapter 8

WARNING: THIS IS NOT THE FIRST CHAPTER I'VE UPDATED TONIGHT! That means go back to chapter 6 and start from there if you haven't already! Thank you for paying attention.

I don't own Doctor Who.

* * *

><p>~Athena's POV~<p>

"I've gotten you a room," the mistress informed us before taking her leave out of Shakespeare's study.

"So many strange events today… But most of all, Freedonia? Where a woman can be a doctor?" Shakespeare shook his head, sitting down at his desk.

"Where a woman can be whatever she wants," Martha clarified.

"And you, Sir Doctor, how can a man so young have eyes so old?"

"I do a lot of reading," he said dryly.

"And Lady Athena, I know not what to make of you. You seem to hold so many secrets and you cannot be more than twenty."

"I'd argue but I know better than to lie to the man with the words," I shrugged.

"And you," he said, looking at Martha. "You look at them like you're surprised they exist. They're as much a puzzle to you as they are to me."

There was a moment of silence in which Martha was careful to avoid eye contact with the rest of us. Eventually, I cleared my throat.

"I think it's time we say goodnight," I smiled tiredly. Martha only nodded, walking out of the room. Shakespeare watched her leave.

"I must work, I have a play to complete," he announced. "Well I'll get my answers tomorrow, Doctor. And I'll discover more about you and this constant performance of yours'."

"All the world's a stage," the Doctor said at the door. Shakespeare looked up, impressed.

"Hmm, that's good. I might use that," he said thoughtfully. "Good night, Doctor, Athena."

"Nighty-night, Shakespeare," I yawned, following Martha down the hall.

"Not exactly five star, is it?" Martha said when I walked into the room, shadowed by the Doctor. I glanced around the plain room. It held a dresser, a roughly hewn table, a comfortable looking chair, a bedside table, and a twin bed.

"It'll do for the night," I shrugged. I knelt as Martha began talking.

"So who's going where? I mean, there are only the one bed," Martha pointed out, laughing a little under her breath with a smile.

"You too can have the bed, I'll be fine on the floor," the Doctor smiled. I rolled my eyes, unclasping my own, unfortunately broken, vortex manipulator from my ankle. I hadn't found a chance to fix it before coming to the hospital so I resorted to keeping it on me in the hopes that an opportunity to repair it would come along.

"There's no need to be chivalrous, Doctor. I don't need to sleep. I will need your sonic though," I said, holding up my broken vortex manipulator. The man's eyebrow went up half an inch and I laughed. "Hush, you. I'd rather fix it now than on the TARDIS later."

"Aren't you tired?" Martha yawned. I shook my head, once again pointing to myself.

"I don't need nearly as much sleep as humans. I only sleep every few nights or so. If you make up a chart, I'm a lot more Gallifreyan than human." The Doctor's eyes darkened with confusion and a badly hidden curiousity but Martha beat him to the punch line.

"What d'you mean, Gallifreyan?"

"Someone from the planet Gallifrey," the Doctor said a little tensely. I nodded.

"… So… I haven't got a toothbrush," Martha realized as the Doctor passed me his sonic with a childish pout. Rolling my eyes, I sat at the table, already fidgeting with the screwdriver's settings and rewiring the bracelet's circuit board.

"Hmm," the Doctor hummed, patting down his pockets, his hand diving into his coat. "Toothbrush, toothbrush… Ah ha! Spearmint," he said, offering the human the newly found toothbrush before plopping down on the small bed. I glanced up at the two before returning to the task at hand.

"So, magic and stuff… That's a surprise. Sort of a bit Harry Potter," Martha smiled a little too sweetly for my taste. _He's still my dad, even if he doesn't know it._

"Wait till you read book seven," the Doctor said happily before sighing. "Oh, I _cried_."

"I dunno, book three was always my favorite," I said a little distractedly.

"But is it real, though?" Martha said excitedly, skillfully ignoring me all the while. I smiled to myself, tinkering with my bracelet. "I mean, witches, black magic, and all that. Is it real?"

"Course it isn't," the Doctor rolled his eyes. Honestly. _Humans._

"Well how am I supposed to know? I've only just started believing in time travel, gimme a break," Martha retorted.

"Looks like witchcraft, but it isn't," I cut in. "Can't be. There is a logical scientific answer to all this, we just gotta find it."

"Exactly… You just gonna stand there all night?" the Doctor said, looking rather clueless as he stared at Martha, still on her feet.

"Well, budge over a bit then," Martha ordered, setting her candle onto the bedside table. "Sorry, not much room, is there?"

"There's such a thing as physic energy but a human couldn't channel it like that," the Doctor mused, oblivious to Martha's rather flirtatious tone. "Not without a generator the size of Torchwood and we would've spotted that… No," he sighed, turning over so that he faced Martha.

"There's something I'm missing… Something really close… Staring me right in the face and I can't see it…" he murmured. It was not lost on me that Martha turned to look at him, her face inches from his. I almost laughed at the next thing the Doctor, that wonderfully oblivious man-alien-, said.

"Rose would know," he frowned. "That friend of mine, Rose; right now, she'd say the exact right thing… Still!" he said much louder, turning to look up at the ceiling. "Can't be helped. Too bad."

"Great," Martha said icily, scowling as she blew out the candle.

My work finished, I crept out of the door, repaired vortex manipulator in hand. I slipped the sonic screwdriver into the Doctor's hand, the man playing along and pretending to be asleep.

I left the room, heading down towards the stairs only to be intercepted by the mistress, broom in hand.

"What're you doing up at this hour?" she asked, more surprised than rude.

"I'm sorry, mum. Couldn't sleep, I'm afraid," I said, adding just enough innocence to my voice to make it believable. Like the hundreds before who had fallen for that age-old trick, the woman's eyes softened.

"Tell ya what," she said, her voice taking on a surprisingly maternal quality. "I'll go check on Will and then we'll have some tea, you and me."

"I'd love to, thank you," I smiled easily. The woman smiled good-naturedly and continued on her way to the playwright's room. I had taken just three steps, determined to explore a little bit of old London town, when I heard her speak from down the hall.

"Wouldn't be the first, then?" she said a little tiredly. I could hear the surprise in her voice though and see her step back, away from the door.

"I'll take that that to aid my flight and you shall speak no more this night," a harsh woman's voice replied coldly. An old hand grasped the broom handle, visible from my vantage point, and wrenched it away from the woman.

The next thing I knew, she screamed, the sound stabbing into my ears. Ignoring the human half of me, telling me to run, I listened to the part of me that usually made more sense, the Time Lady.

"What?" the playwright asked groggily, jumping up from the desk as I knelt at the mistress's side. I tried feeling for a pulse, finding none. I bit my lip, glancing around the room and out of the window, searching for the other woman, the one who had undoubtedly killed the woman. _I don't even know her name._

A cackle filled the air and the Doctor and Martha burst through the door just as I had. I stared sadly into the woman's face as the Doctor began examining her.

"Her heart gave out," he announced quietly. "She died of fright."

"Doctor?" Martha, standing at the window, asked a little unsurely.

"What do you see?" he inquired.

"A witch."

* * *

><p>AN:

I've made up my mind, I'm updating yet again. I just looked at what I have typed up and I have a couple more in store for a later date. For now, though, I'll release chapter eight just as soon as I finished updating this chapter.

^.^ Susie ^.^


	9. Chapter 9

WARNING! THIS IS NOT THE FIRST CHAPTER I'VE UPDATED TONIGHT. GO BACK TWO CHAPTERS and start FROM THERE!

Thanks for paying attention :)

I don't own any part of Doctor Who.

* * *

><p>~Athena's POV~<p>

"Oh sweet Dolly Bailey," Shakespeare almost groaned, stepping away from the window. Night had passed slowly and without sleep. "But what could've scared her so? She had such enormous spirit," Will almost sighed, talking with his hands.

"Rage, rage against the dying of the light," was the Doctor's reply, now quoting Dylan Thomas.

"I might use that," Will thought out loud. The Doctor sighed.

"You can't, it's someone else's," I said, glaring a bit at my father. Martha bit her lip, about to speak.

"But the thing is," she began, "Lynley drowned on dry land and Dolly died of fright, and they were both connected to you."

"Are you accusing me?" Shakespeare said, raising an eyebrow. Martha shook her head determinedly.

"No, I saw a _witch_. Big as you like, cackling away, and you've written about witches," she said, rather incorrectly. He _will_ write about witches. Eventually, as in not yet.

"Have I? When was that?"

"No, not…quite yet," the Doctor said quietly to Miss Martha Jones of Freedonia.

"Peter spoke of witches," Shakespeare, his eyes starting to get the manic awareness that often filled the Doctor's old eyes.

"Who?" I asked bluntly, making Martha jump. I rolled my eyes, moving away from her to sit next to Shakespeare.

"Peter Street. Our builder. He was the one to design the Globe," Shakespeare said, his eyes dashing from myself, then to Martha, and finally to the Doctor.

"The architect… the architect… The _architect!_ The Globe!" the Doctor shouted, slamming his fist onto the table and standing and moving to the door. "Come on!"

Exchanging a glance with the two humans, I shrugged and followed the Doctor out of the door and towards Globe Theatre.

* * *

><p>"The columns there, right? Fourteen sides… I've always wondered but I've never asked: why fourteen sides?" the Doctor asked aloud, glancing back at Shakespeare as I circled the theater.<p>

"It was the shape Peter thought best, that's all," Shakespeare shrugged, the script of Love Labors Won in hand. "Said it carried the sound well."

"Fourteen… Why does that ring a bell…" I murmured.

"Fourteen lines in a sonnet," Martha volunteered. The Doctor nodded.

"That there is… Words following the same design… Fourteen lines, fourteen sides, fourteen facets… Oh my head," the Doctor said, running a hand through his perpetually messy hair. "Think think think think think think think! Words, letters, numbers, lines!"

"But this is just a theater!" Will protested.

"Ah yes, but the theater is magic, isn't it? You should know. Stand on this stage, say the right words with the right emphasis at the right time… Oh, you could make men weep," I smiled the smile so like my mum's. "Cry with joy, change their- Change them…" _Ding ding ding!_ "You can change people's minds," I emphasized. The Doctor looked at me, impressed, and I shook my head tiredly.

"Just with words," he continued. "In this place… And if you exaggerate that…"

"So it's like your police box; small wooden box with all that_ power_ inside," Martha beamed.

"Oh, Martha Jones, I like you," the Doctor smiled. "Tell you what, where is this Peter Street fellow, anyway? I have a few questions for him."

"I doubt you'd get an answer," Will replied, shaking his head slowly, his eyes skyward. "One month after he designed this place, he lost his mind."

"Why, what happened?" Martha asked curiously. Shakespeare shrugged nonchalantly.

"Started raving about witches and how there were voices babbling. He was mad, his mind addled."

"Where's he now?" I asked pointedly.

"Bedlam."

"What's Bedlam?" Martha inquired.

"Bedlam Hospital. A madhouse."

"We've gotta go there," the Doctor decided. "Right now. Come on."

"Hold on!" I shouted, trying to keep up with the already moving man.

"I'm coming with you, I want to witness this first hand," Will insisted. We passed the two actors from last night and the playwright shoved the script into the hands of one.

"Ralf, the last scene as promised. Copy it, hand it round, memorize it before curtain. Remember kid, project. Eyes and teeth; never know, the queen might turn up," Will said before muttering something unintelligible.

* * *

><p>"So tell me of Freedonia, where women can be doctors, writers, actors," Will said to Martha as we walked down a near empty lane.<p>

"There's a whole list of things women can be. We're ruled by a woman, actually," Martha smiled.

"Ah royalty, that's God's business. Though you are a royal beauty," Shakespeare smiled easily. I rolled my eyes to the Doctor, mouthing 'Jack'. He grinned, continuing on our way while the humans flirted.

"Hold on a minute, I know for a _fact_ that you've got a wife in the country," Martha said, laughing under her breath.

"But Martha, this is town," Shakespeare countered smoothly. The Doctor turned around, losing patience.

"Oi, we can have a good flirt later!"

"That a promise, Doctor?" Shakespeare grinned, raising an eyebrow. The Doctor sighed.

"Oh, fifty-seven academics just punched the air. Move it!" I ordered, leading the way away towards Bedlam Hospital.

* * *

><p>We walked through the halls of Bedlam, screams bombarding us from all sides and angles.<p>

"Does the Lord Doctor want to kill some time while he waits? I whip these madmen, I whip 'em."

"This what you call a hospital, yeah? Where the patients are whipped to entertain the gentry? And you put your friend in here; how d'you live with it?" Martha asked Shakespeare, grimacing.

"Oh, it's all so different in Freedonia," he emphasized.

"But you're clever, do you honestly think that this place is any good?" Martha demanded. Shakespeare's eyes darkened ever so slightly and his tone became more serious.

"I went mad, nearly lost my mind. Fear of this place set me right again. It serves it's purpose."

"Mad in what way?" Martha asked a little snidely. My face settled into a sad frown.

"You lost your son," I answered for him.

"My only boy," Shakespeare said, meeting my eyes. "The Black Death took him. I wasn't even there."

"I didn't know, I'm sorry," Martha apologized earnestly. Will nodded.

"It made me question everything. The fragility of our own fleeting existence. To be or not to be… Oh, that's quite good."

"You should write that down," the Doctor recommended, his voice serious. Shakespeare hummed thoughtfully.

"Maybe not, bit pretentious." The Doctor only shrugged.

"Sir Will," the guard called from down the hall. We followed his lead and he unlocked a cell where a man was hunched over, rocking ever so slightly.

The guard walked into the cell, sneering at the man.

"They can be dangerous, ones like this. Don't know their own strength," the guard informed us.

"I think it helps if you don't whip them," I growled. "Now get out!"

"Ooh, I like this one," the Doctor grinned, glancing between Martha and Shakespeare. The guard obeyed my command, locking the door behind him and walking down the corridor, probably to torture some poor soul.

"Peter," the Doctor said clearly but quietly. "Peter Street?"

"He's the same as he was. You'll get nothing out of him," Will said, shaking his head. I bit my lip, stepping closer and kneeling by the man.

"Peter," I echoed. I moved my hand to him and, the second it landed on his shoulder, he jumped up, staring at me with nearly colorless eyes. His mouth hung loosely, showing his rotting teeth and highlighting his sparse facial hair. Other than that and the crazed expression on his face, I'm sure he was once handsome.

"Athena," the Doctor warned quietly. I shooed him away.

"Doctor, I've researched biology, medical science, psychology, archealogy, mathematics, cheese-making, temporal physics, galactic law, and half a million other things. Go look pretty in the corner and I'll do all the talking," I said, winking. He groaned.

"Now I know you've met Jack," he sighed, backing off anyway. I smiled at him before softening my expression and looking back at Peter.

"Peter, my name is Athena. I need your help. Go into the past, one year ago. Let your mind go back." I let my hands frame his face, my index and middle finger resting gently on his temples as I closed my eyes, working to undo the mental blocks around the memories.

"Back to when everything was fine and shining," I continued. "Everything that happened in this year since all happened to someone else. It's just a story, let it go," I soothed. His eyes flashed a shadow of awareness, disappearing so quickly I might have invented it, but he leaned back in his bed, his eyes staring blankly at the ceiling.

"Just let it go… Tell me the story, Peter," I said more sternly. The man twitched and fidgeted, his eyes darting to and fro, never making eye contact with another.

"Tell us about the witches, Peter. It's just a story." He twitched a nod, turning to face the wall of his cell.

"Witches- witches spoke to Peter… Every night, they whispered- whispered- _whispered_ in his ears. Got Peter to build the Globe to _their_ design, theirs! The fourteen walls, always fourteen. When the work was done-" he paused, laughing manically. "-They- they snapped poor Peter's wits."

"Good, Peter. I just have one more question… Where did Peter see the witches? Where were they?"

Peter started hyperventilating and I leaned a little closer to him.

"Peter listen to me; remember, it's just a story. Where were they?"

"All Hallows Street," he said clearly, finally meeting my eyes. I felt a presence behind me and I froze.

"Too many words," a withered voice rang in my ears. I jumped away, my eyes finding the witch, hunched over just behind where I was moments before.

"Just one touch," she said, holding up a single finger. "Of the heart."

"No!" the Doctor shouted as the woman leaned over Peter Street, her overlong fingernail digging into his chest. The man scream once before his eyes, already so watery, clouded.

"Witch! I'm seeing a witch!" Shakespeare said, rocking back onto his heels and into the cell bars. He held up an accusatory finger to the witch.

"No, ah-who who be next?" the woman grinned, all too pleased at the prospect of ending a life. Anger, pure rage, bubbled up inside me, threatening to spill. "Just one touch," she repeated, adding emphasis to each word.

"Oh! Oh, I'll stop your _frantic_ hearts! Poor, fragile, mortals," she spat. Martha turned, eyes wide, to the cell bars.

"Let us out! Let us out!" Martha screamed. I almost rolled my eyes despite the situation we had gotten ourselves into.

"No use shouting that. Whole building's screaming to get out," I said, trying to block out the singing in my veins that was my inherited fragment of the time vortex.

"And who'll die first?" the witch asked. I pursed my lips.

"Well, if you're looking for volunteers," the Doctor said, taking a single step forward as Martha began to protest.

"Doctor, can you stop her?" Will said tensely. The witch smiled maliciously at the playwright, cackling.

"No mortal has power over me," she boasted, still smiling.

"Oh, but there's a power in words. If I can find the right one, if I could just know you-"

"None on Earth has knowledge of us," the witch boasted once again, raising her finger as she interrupted the Doctor.

"Then it's a good thing I'm here," he mumbled, leaning away from her hand.

"Humanoid, female, uses words to channel energy, fourteen-" I began to list.

"Ah! That's it! Fourteen! The fourteen stars of the Rexal planet configuration! Creature I name you: Carrionite!" The Doctor shouted victoriously. The Carrionite burst into golden flames before vanishing in on herself.

"What did you do?" Martha asked, taking a hesitant step towards the Doctor.

"I named her. Power of a name, that's old magic," he grinned.

"But there's no such thing as magic," Martha protested. I shrugged.

"Well, it's just another kind of science. You lot got mathematics. Give a man the right string of numbers and equation and you can spilt an atom. Carrionites use words instead," I explained.

"For what?" Will cut in. I glanced back at Peter sadly.

"Death, destruction, the end of the world. All the usual, I suppose," I said, glancing at the Doctor.

* * *

><p>AN:

Yes, Athena told the Doctor to go and look pretty in the corner. I think that's something that both she and Jack would say, don't you?

Leave me a review_, _even if it's a flame. Tell me what you think

^.^ Susie ^.^


	10. Chapter 10

A/N:

Yay, updated already!

Tell me what you think about the story!

I don't own Doctor Who. (Lol, almost wrote Naruto Shippuden because of all my other fics)

* * *

><p>~Athena's POV~<p>

"Carrionites disappeared, way back at the beginning of the universe. No one was sure if they were even real or not," the Doctor said, pacing Shakespeare's room. Will splashed water on his face, drying himself with a towel.

"I'd go for real," he volunteered.

"But what do they want?" Martha asked.

"A new empire, on Earth. All bones and blood and witchcraft," the Doctor answered, grimacing just a bit.

"How?" Martha pressed.

"Well, I'm looking at the man with the words," I said, adding my two cents. Will glanced up at me in surprise.

"Me? But I've done nothing."

"What was that Carrionite doing in your room last night?" I asked.

"Haven't the slightest. I was finishing the play."

"Oh, but that's it, isn't it?" I said, thinking aloud. I glanced at the Doctor. "What happens on the last page?"

"The boys get the girls, they have a little dance, it's all as funny and thought-provoking as usual. Except for those last few lines," he added, as if as an after thought. "Thing is, I don't even remember writing them."

"That's it," the Doctor said quietly. "They used you. They gave you the final words, like a spell or like a code. Loves Labors Won is a weapon! The right combination of words in the right place with the shape of the Globe as an energy converter!"

"The play's the thing!" I finished, smiling at Will. "And yes, you can have that."

* * *

><p>"All Hallows Street, there it is!" the Doctor exclaimed, pointing at a map. "We'll track them down. Will, whatever you do, <em>stop that play<em>!"

"I'll do it," he agreed, holding out his hand. The Doctor accepted it and Shakespeare smiled. "All these years I've been the cleverest man around. Next to you, I know nothing."

"Well don't complain," I teased.

"I'm not, it's marvelous. Good luck Doctor," he said, smiling in anticipation.

"Good luck Shakespeare. Once more into the breach," the Doctor shouted, grabbing his coat.

"I like that," Shakespeare grinned before the smile faltered. "Hold on, that's one of mine."

"Oh, just shift!" I said, sticking my head back in the doorway.

* * *

><p>"All Hallows Street… Which house?" the Doctor asked the air, glancing around the near empty street.<p>

"Thing is though, the world didn't end in 1599, it just didn't. Look at me, I'm living proof," Martha pointed out. I smiled wryly at the Doctor.

"There are fixed points and times and then there is everything else. This is not a fixed point in time. The history of Earth is hanging on this moment in history because it's never happened, it shouldn't have happened, but we can't solve that now."

"It's like Back to the Future," I offered, seeing Martha's confusion at the Doctor's explanation.

"What, the film?"

"No the novelization; _yes_ the film. He goes back and changes history."

"And everything starts fading away. Oh my god, am I gonna fade away?"

"You and the entire future of the human race," the Doctor ended. "It ends, right now, in 1599 if we don't stop it. But which house?"

Right on cue, a door swung open, unguided by anyone. I nodded at it.

"I'm gonna have to say- _that one_."

We walked easily up the stairs, pushing the fabric overhanging the doorframe to reveal the maid from The Elephant.

"I take it we've been expected?"

"Oh, I think Death has been expecting you for a very long time," the Carrionite answered the Doctor with a smile.

"Right then, I got this one," Martha said, raising her hand to point at the alien. "I know how to do this. I name thee, Carrionite!"

The figure only laughed at the dark skinned woman.

"What did I do wrong? Was it the finger?" Martha asked, turning back to the Doctor and I. The Carrionite laughed again.

"Power of a name works only once. Observe: I gaze upon this bag of bones and now I name thee Martha Jones!" Martha's eyes rolled back into her head and the Doctor jumped forward to catch her.

"What've you done!" I shouted, glaring at the Carrionite. Martha might be flirtatious, a little slow, and dramatic but she was only human. And no one messes with the Doctor's humans.

"Hm," the Carrionite sighed, sounding a little surprised. "Only sleeping, alas. It's curious; a name has less impact. She's somehow out of her time." The Carrionite looked curiously to the Doctor and I narrowed my eyes when she jumped towards me.

"And as for you, Lady Athena," she said in an accusatory tone, pointing a single finger at me. I raised an eyebrow, daring it to work and grinning when it didn't. "Fascinating. There is no name. Why would a respectable woman hide her title with such- Oh, but look, there's still one word with power over you, Sir Doctor."

"A naming won't work on me," he said, his face set in a scowl.

"But your heart grows cold," she cooed. "The north wind blows and carries down the distant… _Rose_."

"Oh, now you've made a mistake," the Doctor said, standing up and taking two steps towards the Carrionite. "Cause that name keeps me fighting! The Carrionites vanished, where did you go?"

"The eternals found the right word to vanish us into deep darkness," she explained, turning and pacing away from us.

"And how did you escape?" The Doctor pressed.

"New words," she smiled. "New, glittery, from a mind like no other. The grief of a genius. Grief without measure."

"Shakespeare," I murmured. My eyes turned up to the Carrionite, glaring daggers into her. "You took advantage of him. His son died and you used him for your cause. Tell me, Carrionite, how many escaped the darkness?"

"Just the three," she answered quickly, walking determinedly towards the window. "But the play tonight shall restore the rest. Then, the human race will be purged as pestilence. And from this world we will lead the universe back to the old ways of blood and magic."

"Hm, busy schedule," the Doctor commented, stepping forward. "But, first, you've gotta get past me." The Carrionite smiled at the challenge, moving closer. And closer. Much too close for my comfort.

"Oh that should be a pleasure," the Carrionite smiled, moving her hand to frame his face. "Considering my enemy has such a… _handsome_ shape."

"Now that's one form of magic that's definitely not going to work on me," the Doctor said, indifferent to the woman. Until she leapt away from him, holding a lock of hair for her trouble.

"What was that for? What d'you do?" he asked, confused as his hand went to his head. She smiled, holding the hair up.

"Souvenir," she purred.

"Well give it _back_," the Doctor said, narrowing his eyes. He took a single step towards her and she flung the windows open behind her before levitating out of the room. I stayed low in the shadows, not really wanting to test my theories on regeneration.

"Well that's just cheating," the Doctor accused a little tiredly, watching the woman from the window.

"Behold, Sir Doctor. Men to Carrionites are nothing more than _puppets._" She withdrew something that looked suspiciously like a voodoo doll. Martha awoke and I signaled for her to remain silent.

"Now, you might call that magic but I'd call that a DNA replication module," the Doctor said quickly.

"What use is your science now, good sir?" She smiled sadistically, raising a needle and stabbing the heart of the doll. The Doctor fell over, shouting in pain, and the Carrionite laughed harder before flying off, the windows closing shut.

"Oh no, Doctor. I've got you, don't worry!" Martha explained, moving close to him. I rolled my eyes.

"Don't freak the girl out, Doctor. Two hearts," I reminded her. The Doctor grinned, opening his eyes.

"Good thing, too- Ah!" He shouted, bending over just as he stood. Martha dashed to support him and he gasped. "I've only got one heart working… How do you people cope?" He asked, glancing at Martha and I. I rolled my eyes again.

"I've got two hearts, Doctor," I reminded him. I pushed Martha away, ignoring her protests as my hands formed a fist. I slammed my hands to his chest, hitting his stopped heart.

"Now the back," I ordered. Martha leaned away a bit, letting me do my work. The Doctor grinned, stretching.

"Ah, lovely! How'd you pick up on that?"

"Torchwood," I said, brushing my hair out of my face. "Jack and I were partnered together on a bunch of missions seeing how hard it is to kill one of us. Any more questions?"

"Yeah, how d'you mean-"

"Bada-boom-ba!" the Doctor shouted, cutting off Martha's question. He glanced back at us. "Well, what are you standing there for? Come on!"

With that, he ran out the door, closely followed by Martha. I rolled my eyes, walking at a more sedate pace and catching up to them easily as they glanced back and forth down the lane, lost in the layout of old London town. I hooked an arm around Martha's waist and another around the Doctor's arm, slamming my palm against my vortex manipulator, the coordinates already set for the Globe Theatre's stage door.

* * *

><p>"-Crystal, activate!" an actor's voice shouted. Martha stood hunched over, gasping for breath and I glanced around, my eyes finding Will passed out, leaning against a wall. I sighed in exasperation.<p>

"Stop the play! Stop the play, that was it, yeah?" I said, my eyes glancing once more towards the stage as the wind began to pick up.

"I hit my head," Shakespeare said distractedly.

"Oh, well don't rub it or you'll bald," the Doctor said humorlessly. Screams filled the air from the theater and I jumped up.

"That's our cue," I said, sprinting to the stage, shadowed by the Doctor.

~The Doctor's POV~

_Since when was I the companion? Honestly, I'm following _her_ into danger! Somewhere, Rose is laughing about this._

_Rose. She's so much like her. And that smile. That is a trademark Rose Tyler smile. She even pokes her tongue out! Can it- No, Athena has two hearts. She said her father was a Time Lord… Crap, I killed her dad. Does she know? How can she not know, she called me the Oncoming Storm! How is she-_

_Damn Carrionites. Why don't you just go back into whatever dark hole in time and space you crawled into so long ago?_

"The shape of the Globe gives words power but you are the one that creates them!" Athena shouted over the wind. I glanced around, a little surprised at my surroundings. _How did I completely miss dozens of Carrionites escaping from their prison?_

"You're the one true genius, the only one clever enough to do it!" she continued. I glanced back at Martha, her eyes wide in terror as she surveyed the crowds.

"But what words? I have none ready," he protested. Athena sighed, visibly losing patience, and poked the playwright. _Ha ha, poked the playwright… Not nearly as fun as barefoot on the moon with a platoon of Judoon, though. That'll be hard to beat._

"You. Are. William. Shakespeare!" she shouted, resorting to slapping him on the shoulder.

"But these Carrionite phrases, they need such _precision_!"

"Trust yourself," Athena continued, her voice lowering ever so slightly. "When you're sitting in your office, words just come to you. It _is_ magic; words, the right sounds, the right shape, the right rhythm! Words that last forever! That's what you do, Will. You choose perfect words! Do it, improvise!"

Shakespeare took a breath and I could literally _see_ his indecision and self-doubt melt away. I raised an eyebrow at Athena but she only winked back.

"Close up this din of dire, hateful decay. . Decomposition of your witches plot. You thieve my brains, consider me your toy. My doting Doctor tells me I am not! Foul Carrionite specters cease your show, between the points..." he stopped here and looked at me, at a loss for information.

"761390!" I shouted.

"761390! Banished like a tinker's cuss, I say to thee…" he drifted off, looking back at me. I shrugged, looking at Athena and Martha for help.

"Expelliarmus?" Athena recommended.

"Expelliarmus!" I echoed, followed by Martha. Shakespeare shrugged, turning to the Carrionites with a lopsided smile.

"Expelliarmus!" he finished.

"Good old J.K.!" I shouted to the air as the Carrionites screamed their last, all sucked back into the darkness and pulling Loves Labors Won with it.

"Love Labors Won," Athena began. "There it goes." Just as she stopped talking, the crowd burst into a hesitant but building applause. Martha looked incredulously at Shakespeare.

"They think it was all special effects?" she breathed as Athena dashed off the stage. I watched her go, feeling oddly worried when she vanished from sight. Not the normal companion worry. More tangible and lasting than that…

"Your effect is special indeed," Shakespeare sighed, turning back to Martha. She raised an eyebrow.

"It's not your best line," she chuckled. He only shrugged, turning to bow to the audience.

* * *

><p>AN:

One more chapter down, an unknown number to go!

Yay, writing!

Tell me what you think :)

Till next time,

^.^ Susie ^.^


	11. Chapter 11

A/N:

Sorry for the long wait, but I have lotsa stories to publish :)

Sadly, not a one is a DW fic, but I have a bunch of other stuff. I'm starting to branch out ^.^

Even if **I don't own Doctor Who!**

* * *

><p>~Athena's POV~<p>

"And I say, a heart for a hart, a dear for a deer," Shakespeare said, finishing yet another joke that Martha didn't understand. The Doctor stood close by, his eyes following me as I walked back to them with a triumphant smile, a neck ruff dangling loosely around my wrist, a skull that looked similar to a Sycorax, and the crystal orb in which the Carrionites were imprisoned.

"I don't get it," Martha chuckled. Will sighed.

"Then give me a joke from Freedonia."

"Okay… Shakespeare walks into a pub and the landlord says, 'Oi, mate. You're bard.'"

Shakespeare started cracking up and pulled her a little closer. I rolled my eyes, still glad that Jack wasn't here.

"That's brilliant. Doesn't make sense mind you, but never mind," he said, bringing her face to his.

"But I've only just met you," she said quietly.

"The Doctor may never kiss you. Why not entertain a man who will?" he asked, leaning closer.

"I don't know how to tell you this, O Great Genius," she said, hesitating a little as she back away just a bit. "But your breath doesn't suit you."

"Good prop store back there," I said, studying the skull closer. "Though this looks more like a Sycorax."

"Sycorax," Will repeated. "Nice word… I'll have that off you as well."

"I should be getting ten percent," I said, shoving the skull into the Doctor's arms before turning back to the playwright. "How's your head?"

"Still aching."

"Here, I got you this: neck brace," I said, unclasping the neck ruff and securing it around Shakespeare's neck. Martha smiled knowingly and I winked at her.

"You should wear it for a few days- although, you might want to keep it. Suits you," I chuckled.

"What about the play?" Martha asked.

"Gone," the Doctor replied. "I looked all over. Every copy of Love Labors Won, went right up into the sky.

"My lost masterpiece," Shakespeare sighed.

"You could write it up again," Martha recommended. I shook my head.

"Better not, Will. Those words still have power. It might be better if they stay forgotten."

"Oh, but I've got new ideas," Shakespeare smiled. "Perhaps I should write to the fathers and sons, in memory of my boy, my precious Hamnet."

"Hamnet?" Martha said aloud, thinking most likely about the world renowned play, Hamlet. "Hamnet?" she repeated.

"What's wrong with that?"

"Anyway, I think it's time we set off. Right, Doctor?" I asked, glancing at the man. He looked up from the skull distractedly.

"But what about the Carrionites?" Martha asked. I grinned, lifting up the crystal ball.

"I'm sure there's a nice attic in the TARDIS where this lot can… I dunno, scream for all eternity," I shrugged. "It's time we get headed home."

"Right, have to get Martha back to Freedonia," the Doctor grinned, jumping up.

"You mean, travel on through time and space?" Shakespeare grinned smugly. The Doctor visibly deflated, glancing accusingly at Martha then myself.

"You what?"

"You're from another world like the Carrionites. And Martha's from the future. I get the feeling Athena's from a little bit of both; it's not all that hard to work out."

"That's- incredible. You are incredible," the Doctor said, impressed. Shakespeare only smiled.

"We are alike in many ways, Doctor. Martha, let me say goodbye to you with a new verse. A sonnet for my Dark Lady," he said, kissing her hand while the woman blushed. "Shall I compare thee to a summer's day? Thou art more lovely and temperate; rough winds do-"

"Will! WILL! You'll never believe it; she's here!" Two actors from the play burst through the doors, bursting with exciting news.

"We're the talk of the town," the other actor beamed.

"She heard about last night; she wants us to perform it again!" the first actor continued.

"Who?" Martha asked, oblivious. The first actor looked at her incredulously.

"Her Majesty, she's _here_!"

A trumpet sounded and a woman wearing a rather uncomfortable looking dress walked in surprisingly quickly. _It's amazing she can move that fast with all those jewels holding her down… _

"Queen Elizabeth the First!" the Doctor said excitedly. The queen looked at us with narrowed eyes, swelling with… anger?

"Doctor, Athena… My sworn enemies!" she growled.

"What?" we chorused.

"Off. With their heads!" she shouted. My jaw fell.

"What?" I repeated.

"Never mind what, just _run_!" Martha shouted, pushing us out of the theater.

"Stop them! Stop those two! That pernicious Doctor! Wicked Athena!" I could hear Shakespeare laughing as we ran from her guards.

"Stop! In the name of the Queen!" One of them shouted, running to catch up.

"Not likely," I called back, tossing my hair over my shoulder.

"What've you done to upset her?" Martha shouted. The Doctor glanced back at me confusedly.

"How should I know? I haven't done it yet!"

"That's time travel for you," I smiled, breathing heavily against the TARDIS door. The Doctor fumbled with the lock and I saw the faster guard ready his crossbow.

"Doctor!"

"Can't wait to find out," he said, opening the door for Martha. "That's something to look forward to." The words had barely left his mouth before an arrow stabbed into the TARDIS, inches away from me.

I glanced at it before pushing him in and closing the door behind me, yet another arrow stabbing into the wood with a dull _thud._

The TARDIS fumed angrily and I slapped the Doctor across the face. He turned back to me, flexing his jaw.

"What was that for?" he asked indignantly. I raised an eyebrow, a hand on my hip.

"I dunno, staying for chat while we're getting shot at? Now you've gotten the TARDIS shot at _twice_." An angry series of clicks and beeps, as well as a rather colorful light show, echoed my argument. Martha looked on a little amused.

"I'm half human, Doctor! I might not regenerate if I get hit by a stray arrow! I can tell you right now that my mum wouldn't be-"

"Who is your mum, anyway?" Martha was compassionate enough to slip out of the console room to explore the vastness of the TARDIS.

"Old friend of Jack's," I said, not completely lying. The Doctor didn't stop there.

"Now I know you're not telling me the truth. When I met Jack, he didn't even think Timelords were real. How could he be friends with your mother and not know what _species_ your mum was hanging around?"

"Don't be ridiculous Doctor. He knew. You just met a younger version of Jack, before he believed Timelords were real. Besides, Jack is a fifty-first century guy. I don't think he keeps track of the species _he_ hangs around with." The Doctor was silent for a moment.

"Well played," he conceded.

"Tell ya what: we can compromise. I'll tell you everything that you want to know after you drop Martha off."

"Deal."

"No deal. Keep Martha around for one more adventure and I'll tell you everything you want to know and show you how to actually fix the TARDIS. And how to create a transdimensional teleporter without ripping open a whole in space and time," I added at his withering look.

"I don't think you can deliver," he challenged.

"Okay, Doctor. Here's how this is gonna work: After you drop off Martha, you will take me back home and I will tell you whatever the hell you want to know. Then I'll whip you up a transdimensional vortex manipulator, hook it into the TARDIS's console, if she agrees of course, and let you be on your merry way. With or without me. Your choice."

"And if I refuse?"

_Listen to the child, my thief. Like her namesake, she too is wise beyond her years. You need to know what she knows if you ever want to see Rose Tyler again._

"Rose is trapped in-"

"Another dimension," I pressed, waiting for him to catch on. My plan was simple, take him home, take him over to Pete's world, introduce him to my then twenty five year old mum, let them… socialize… and leave, accidentally breaking the transdimensional vortex manipulator I would've wired into the TARDIS's console before conveniently disappearing for a couple of years his time, a few minutes my time.

"Doctor, if you ever want to see her again, just listen to me. I'll keep my end of the bargain, I just need you to guarantee that you won't go running off and leaving after I take you to Rose."

_She belongs in that universe, just as you do in this one,_ the TARDIS said a little sadly. _She was too clever._

"Nah, I was too thick," the Doctor sighed. I cleared my throat and he jumped, apparently forgetting that I was there.

"Do we have a deal, Doctor?" I asked quietly, offering my hand. He glanced at the wildly flashing and buzzing TARDIS console, humming in agreement, and sighed before accepting my hand.

"Deal."

* * *

><p>AN:

Wai- What?

Oh, wait, _I_ know what's going on ^-^ Sometimes, I love being the author- it gives me sneak peaks at _everything_ that I post... I wonder why?

Anyway, sorry again for the delay. the next chapter will be dalek-y and New York-ified. Not to be confused with the New New one. The New Amsterdam one ;)

^.^ Susie ^.^


	12. Chapter 12

A/N:

Sorry for the huge delay in updates, and thank you so much for the reviews, favorites, and alerts. All are very much appreciated :)

... even if I don't own Doctor Who...

* * *

><p>~Athena's POV~<p>

"Just one trip, that's what I said. Just one trip in the TARDIS then back home. Although I suppose you could stretch the definition. One trip into the past and one trip into the future. How d'you fancy that?" the Doctor asked Martha seriously. I sat in the Captain's chair, smiling encouragingly when she glanced at me questioningly.

"No complaints from me," she smiled.

"How about- a different planet?" the Doctor recommended over the planet.

"Can we go to yours'?"

"Plenty of other places," I redirected the question.

"Come on, planet of the Time Lords. That's got to be worth a look. Tell me what it's like," Martha said easily, oblivious to the tension radiating from the Doctor with undertones of sadness.

"Well, beautiful, yeah," he said a little awkwardly.

"Is it like, outer spacey, all spires and stuff?" she guessed, shaping an imaginary building with her hands. The Doctor shrugged.

"I suppose so, yeah."

"Great big temples, and cathedrals. Planets in the sky?"

"The skies are a burnt orange. The Citadel of the Time Lords was enclosed in a glass dome, reflecting the light of the twin suns. Slopes of scarlet grass capped with pure white snow," I murmured. The Doctor looked at me a little surprised.

"Can we go there?" I almost fell like throwing something at the human. Then I remembered that she couldn't possibly know the fate of Gallifrey. The Doctor looked downright depressed, his eyes dimming before a fake smile overcame his features.

"Nah, where's the fun for me? I don't wanna go home." I jumped up to the console, grinning as I put in the new coordinates.

"I know just the place. Year 5 billion and 53. New Earth. Mankind's second home, fifty thousand light years from the Earth you know and love. If my calculations and textbooks are correct, we are in the dead center of New New York. Well, technically New New New New New New New New New New New New New New New New York. Fifteenth New York since the original. One of the most dazzling cities in the-"

"Oh, that's just fantastic! The Time Lord version of dazzling," Martha complained as we stepped out of the warm dry TARDIS and into the pouring rain. Still in the console room, I turned on my heel and slipped into the wardrobe room. I quickly pulled a trench coat just like the Doctor's off of a hanger, slipping it over my TARDIS blue dress and black leggings. I grabbed another raincoat for Martha before dashing down the halls, into the console room, and out of the TARDIS.

"Come on, bit of rain never hurt anyone," the Doctor grinned cheekily. I scoffed, making the two turn around.

"I grabbed you a coat, Martha," I said to the human, passing her the jacket. She put it on, smiling gratefully. I smiled wryly at the Doctor. "From my experience- you know, seventeen years on Earth- the majority of humans don't actually like the rain."

"Oi, don't be cheeky, you," he countered childishly, leading the way down the alley.

"Well it looks like the same old Earth to me," Martha commented freely. The Doctor whipped out his sonic, banging his fist against a screen before tinkering with the wiring. As soon as the sonic flashed blue, the screen whirred to life.

"Fifteen new lanes opened for the New New Jersey Expressway," a female's voice reported. The screen changed to show clear skies overlooking a rather futuristic bay complete with hovercrafts and shiny buildings.

"That's more like it. That's like the view we had last time I came here. This must be the lower city right at the base of the towers, the under city."

"Excellent," I grinned. _The slums are more interesting than the classier parts of town any day. _Martha didn't seem to share my opinion.

"You've brought me to the slums," she said, sounding very disappointed. I raised an eyebrow, laughing under my breath.

"Much more interesting," I countered. "It's all cocktails and glitter in the upper city. This is where all the action happens. This is the _real_ city."

"You'd enjoy anything," Martha said, leaning against a wall.

"Yep," I said, popping the p. "That's me, alright. Oh, look, the rain's stopping. Better and better."

"When you say, last time… was that you and Rose?" Martha asked the Doctor.

"Um… Yeah, yeah it was, yeah," he repeated. I sighed to myself. The Doctor was getting nervous. He rambled when he felt pressured, especially if it was a life or death situation.

"So you're taking me to the same planets you took her?"

I didn't like her tone.

"Keep in mind that _I_ put the coordinates in. I didn't know that he came here with Rose," I lied. That was one of my favorite bedtime stories. I always laughed when they were possessed by Cassandra.

We were suddenly assaulted with a multitude of voices.

"Oh, you should have said! What'cha want? Happy?"

"Costumers! We've got costumers!"

"We're in business."

"Happy, happy, who wants happy?"

"I've got honesty! Forget!"

"Don't listen to them, they'll rip you off. You want some happy?" the first man repeated. I kept my face smooth when I replied.

"No thanks."

"Are they selling drugs?" Martha asked.

"I think they're selling moods," the Doctor replied, glancing up and down the street.

"Same thing, isn't it?" Martha retorted quietly. I shushed her as a Scottish vendor called out for the young blonde woman that suddenly appeared beside us.

"Now what can I get you, my love?" the vender asked with a gentle smile.

"I want to buy forget," the woman responded in a slightly strained voice.

"I've got forget darling. How strong? What'cha want forgetting?"

"My mother and father. They went on the motorway."

"Oh, I'm so sorry," the vendor said, her voice genuine as she reached under the counter. "Try this: Forget 43. That's as good as it gets," she insisted before closing down shop.

"Sorry, but hold on a minute," the Doctor said, reaching out slightly to the young woman. "What happened to your parents?"

"They drove off," she responded in a monotone. I frowned.

"Yeah, but they might drive back."

"Everyone goes to the motorway in the end," the girl argued, shaking her head sadly. "I've lost them."

"But they can't have gotten far. You could find them," the Doctor insisted. The young woman shook her head more vigorously, her hand moving the patch towards her neck. "No, no, don't!"

But it was too late.

"I'm sorry, what were you saying?" the woman asked, smiling as if nothing had happened. She had forgotten. She seemed happier, tricked by the chemical.

"Your parents, your mother and father. They're on the motorway," the Doctor said evenly.

"Are they? That's nice," she said distractedly. "I'm sorry, I won't keep you," she said, already walking away. Martha's eyes followed her, her mouth opened slightly with shock.

"So that's the human race, five billion years in the future?" Martha asked a little disappointedly. "Off their heads on chemicals."

I was about to add to the conversation when I was grabbed, and roughly at that. A voice, a man's voice, rang out just behind me and a woman held a gun to my father and Martha.

"I'm sorry, I'm really truly sorry. We just need three!" the man called out. I could sense the sincerity of his apology but that didn't exact make me forgive him as his hand covered my mouth, muffling my protests into an angry murmur.

"Let her go!" the Doctor shouted. Martha backed into a wall, overwhelmed by the shouting but most importantly the gun.

"We just need three," the man repeated. I closed my eyes, concentrating.

_Relax_, I thought, directing the words towards the Doctor's mind. His brain picked up on the thought, latching onto the connection after deciding it wasn't a threat.

_How can you do this?_ he shouted in his mind. I winced when he fell physically quiet.

_Scream and yell, Doctor. I need them to think that they're really kidnapping me,_ I said, fighting against the man's grip.

"Let her go!" the Doctor shouted again, his mind arguing with me.

_They _are_ really kidnapping you! I don't know, or care, why you can establish such a strong physic connection but they're really trying to take you away from me!_

I could feel the panic underlining his thoughts and a smile broke through my façade, hidden by the man's hand.

_I have the vortex manipulator. I'll meet you at the TARDIS in an hour, I need to find out what this is all about._

_You have twenty minutes,_ he ordered. I shook my head, biting the man's hand. He yelped, releasing his grip just a fraction but enough to let me kick him in the groin and make it a few feet before he caught me again.

_Don't do anything stupid. I'll see you in an hour… Dad._

"What?" he shouted as a door slammed shut, cutting him out of my field of vision. I was dragged down a corridor and a flight of stairs.

"I should warn you, that man back there was my father. He's not going to forgive you for this unless you give me a damn good reason," I said calmly as I was pushed roughly towards a car. On instinct, I fought back.

"Give her some sleep!" the man shouted. My head was pulled to the side and the woman, apologizing all the while, pressed a mood patch labeled _Sleep_ to my neck. My eyes closed, even as I fought to stay awake.

_There better not be any aspirin in that thing…_

* * *

><p>AN:

I couldn't do it.

I didn't trust the Doctor to figure it out.

FINALLY: the Doctor knows! It's about time, too. Sorry if it seemed a bit sudden, but keep in mind, _she's being KIDNAPPED_! That tends to make people a tiny bit rushed.

And yes, she shares his deathly allergy to aspirin.

Leave me a comment, review, death threat, etc! All are read!

^.^ Susie ^.^


	13. Chapter 13

A/N:

Thanks for all the reviews! I hope I didn't leave anyone hanging with that, but I know I probably did so, without further ado (which _is_ the correct spelling): Chapter 11

Even if I don't own Doctor Who

* * *

><p>~Athena's POV~<p>

I could hear the voices of the two who had kidnapped me. Of course, I could escape whenever I wanted, no questions asked, so it didn't really count as a kidnapping but _anyway_. I could hear them talking in lowered tones. I opened my eyes warily. The two were sitting at the front.

I peeled the patch off of my neck, silently lifting the gun off of its resting place beside the bed. I studied it before laughing, making the two up front jump.

"Brilliant, absolutely brilliant, you two. Find a couple of clueless people, probably lost rich folk, hold 'em at gun point, and drug them. I must say, you are a good actress. Not many people can hold people at gunpoint and look that deadly serious when they know they're holding a fake gun," I said, smiling at the woman. "What's your name?"

"Cheen," the woman answered a little hesitantly.

"I'm Milo," the man answered, glancing back at me. I smiled again.

"We're really really sorry, we just needed access to the fast lane," the woman said sincerely. I nodded thoughtfully. "As soon as we arrive, we'll drop you off and you can go and find your friends."

"Are you kidding?" I asked, raising an eyebrow. The woman shook her head, craning her neck so I could see the _Honesty_ patch.

"So why d'you need three people then? I don't think this is a normal happening, kidnapping random strangers and dragging them to the road. What's that fog, exhaust?"

"Um, yeah… And we need three adults to get into the fast lane," Cheen said, caught unawares by my casualness. "We're going to Brooklyn."

"Everyone says the air is so much cleaner," Milo nodded. "And we couldn't really stay in Pharmacy Town, because-"

"Because of me," Cheen cut in. "I'm pregnant. Just discovered it last week. Scanners say its gonna be a boy."

"I'd congratulate you but you're an idiot," I sighed. "Having a baby and wearing that thing?" I moved forward, ripping off the mood patch. "Not anymore your not."

"We'll be as fast as we can," Milo said in a reassuring tone. "We'll take the Motorway to Brooklyn Flyover and then it's gonna take a while 'cause there's no fast lane, just ordinary roads, but at least it's direct."

"How long is that gonna take?" I said, glancing out at the smog filled motorway.

"It's only ten miles," he continued. I looked at him pointedly and he shrugged. "About… six years?"

"Six years?" I raised an eyebrow.

"It'll be just in time for him to start school," Cheen smiled proudly.

"But six years? That's a long time to never know anything but this car," I frowned. Cheen only smiled.

"He'll have a bright future. That's all I want for him." I sighed, leaning back on the bed as I tried to think through their logic.

* * *

><p>"So how many cars are out there?"<p>

"I don't think anyone knows for sure," Cheen said, shrugging. "You hungry?"

"No thanks," I said, shaking my head. The woman shrugged again, taking a cracker for herself.

"Six years… Long time to be living in this tiny car. How d'you do it?"

"Oh we stoked up," said Cheen. "We've got self replicating fuel, muscle stimulants for exercise and there's a chemical toilet at the back and all waste products are recycled as food."

I was suddenly very glad I had declined food.

"Oh! Another gap! This is brilliant," Milo said excitedly. I glanced out the window. "Car 4-5-6-diamond-6 on decent to fast lane, thank you very much."

"How far down is it to the fast lane?"

"It's all the way at the bottom, below the traffic jam. Not many people can afford three people so it's nearly empty down there. Rumor has it you can reach up to thirty miles an hour!"

"Crazy," I said, trying to keep the sarcasm out of my voice.

* * *

><p>~The Doctor's POV~<p>

"What happened Doctor?" Martha's voice rang out, breaking me out of my thoughts. _Dad. She called me Dad. She- she couldn't be. That's not possible._

"Sorry, what?" I tried to put on a smile, I tried.

I failed.

The twenty minutes I'd given her had come and gone. The hour she had given me was almost spent. And I couldn't do anything about it. The Time Lord who always runs out of time…

_All that time… I didn't know… I should've known. No wonder the TARDIS loves her so much. She has two hearts. She had theories on regeneration that applied directly to her. Her father was a Time Lord. Of course he was. But then who's her mother?_

"Doctor!"

"What was that?" I asked again. Martha sighed exasperatedly.

"I said, can't we do something? Something other than pacing the TARDIS."

"But that's just it, there's- That's it! Martha, stay in the TARDIS. I'll be back."

"Are you lying?" she accused. I shrugged, grinning.

"Probably. Just _stay in the TARDIS_. Can't lose the both of you," I grinned. Martha sighed, sitting down on the Captain's chair, Athena's usual perch.

With that last thought, I sprinted out of the TARDIS console room and towards the motorway.

* * *

><p>~Athena's POV~<p>

"We've got another 10 layers to go, and we're scorching!"

I smiled slightly, but it dropped from my face when there was a rumbling sound outside the car "What's that? It's coming from underneath us."

"It's that noise isn't it? It's like Kate said, the stories are true"

"What stories?" I asked curiously. _Gotta love a good story._

"It's the sound of the air vents that's all," said Milo, trying to calm his girlfriend down. "The exhaust fumes travel down so at the base of the tunnel they've got air vents."

"No, but the stories are much better," said Cheen. "They say people go missing on the motorway; some cars just vanish, never to be seen again, cause there's something living down there in the smoke. Something huge and hungry. And if you get lost on the road it's there waiting for you." A loud growling noise filled the air around the car.

"Well, like I said, air vents," Milo repeated. "Going down to the next layer."

"But look out there," I said, pointing to the smog surrounding us. "Does it look like the air vents are working? If there are any?"

"No," answered Cheen a little nervously. There was another, louder, growling sound outside the car.

"So, what's that then?" I nodded tightly.

"Nah, kids stuff!" said Milo as he picked up the two way radio. "Car 4-6-5-diamond-6, on decent. Over."

The screen came alive with yet another broadcast. Sally Calypso proclaimed just how beautiful the sun was over the New Atlantic before the music started.

_On a hill, far away_

_Stood an old rugged cross_

_The emblem of suffering and shame_

_And I love that old cross_

_Where the dearest and the best_

_For a world of lost sinners was slain_

_So I'll cherish the old rugged cross_

_Rugged cross_

_Till my trophies at last shall I lay down_

_I will cling to the old rugged cross_

_Rugged cross_

_And exchange it some day for a crown_

It was beautiful, hauntingly so. Voices from each of the cars filled the air, the music so hopeful, so mournful, that it brought tears to my eyes.

Cheen and Milo sang with the rest of the motorway and I found myself wishing I knew the words, just so I could join in.

A voice drifted through my head that was not my own. "Think you know us so well, Doctor. We're not abandoned. Not while we have each other."

_Doctor?_ My mind called out. There was a moment of pause before I found my reply.

_Athena! _His voice rang out. I could feel the worry and stress flowing off of his mind and I almost laughed. Then I almost punched something, namely a wall.

_I specifically told you _not_ to do anything stupid._

_Don't take that tone with me, young lady! _he snapped. I stared levelly out the window, smirking.

_I don't think you have that much authority over me. You aren't my father, not yet anyway. Tell me, _Dad_, do you know who my mother is? Do you think you've met her already? Is she out there, waiting for you to save her like old times, or is she sitting at a café table with no idea what is about to come her way?_

_Where are you? Which car?_

_Don't be ridiculous, Doctor. If anything, I should be asking you that. Out of the two of us, I'm the only one with a safe escape. The lay-by is long gone by now, I'm sure. The next one won't be for months._

_Which car? _he asked determinedly. I sighed to myself.

_Car 4-5-6-diamond-6. En route to the fast lane. We'll be there in another- ooh, access granted! Down there now, _I reported as a computerized voice drifted out of the radio.

The Doctor fell silent but I could feel the irritation pulsing from his mind. I rolled my eyes, delving just a little bit deeper into his mind.

o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O

"_If you won't take me I'll go down on my own," the Doctor said evenly. I glanced around the car he had gotten himself into. It was just as cozy as my kidnappers but showed more signs of age: slightly frayed carpets, faded curtains, and much more comfortable looking furniture. At the front sat a woman and a man that was amazingly cat-like. As in, he had orangey fur and whiskers._

"_What do you think you're doing?" the cat asked as the Doctor strode to the maintenance hatch located in the dead center of the car's floor._

"_Finding my own way," he answered easily, the sonic doing it's work against the locks._

o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o

I pulled out of his mind as he opened the hatch.

_Doctor, don't do this, _I pleaded. _You might be all physically superior and all but not even a Time Lord can survive those fumes!_

_Then watch your old man show you how it's done,_ he said back. I could feel the grin on his face.

* * *

><p>AN:

Sorry Disney-Princess-In-Disguise, he's not really "Dad-Shocked". A little bit, but not too much. I'm going to say that it's because he had time to get to know Athena before finding out that she was his daughter. With Jenny, it was just 'walks out of cloning machine, "Hey, Dad!" ' Also, he's been recognizing smaller things about Athena that are Rose's mannerisms, so he wasn't completely caught off guard.

On a sadder note, I'm not sure if I can continue writing in the Doctor's POV. At the moment, I am just finishing "The Lazarus Experiment" and the accompanying filler (hint hint) and I'm finding it harder and harder to write for him. He's just so... _distractable_. If you have written for the Doctor and have any tips or want to help me out with the writing, PM me :)

Thanks for reading x3

^.^ Susie ^.^


	14. Chapter 14

A/N:

Sorry for the long wait o.o

Hope you enjoy the chapter!

I don't own Doctor Who :(

* * *

><p>~Athena's POV~<p>

Okay, it was official. The Doctor had done a great many stupid and unnecessary things. This, climbing through layers of cars to reach a girl who had a working time vortex manipulator, was simply ridiculous. Mum always said he was fast to act.

"Try that one," Cheen suggested, a little hysteria seeping into her voice. Milo complied, pressing the button.

"Brooklyn Tunnel One closed," the computer rang out.

"Then that one," Cheen said, her voice get higher and higher in pitch.

"Brooklyn Tunnel Two closed."

"Then what'll we do?" she asked, her voice increasingly loud. I shushed her.

"We can keep going round. By the time we make the loop, they'll be open," Milo said, trying to appease her. Her stress only compounded when a growl rocked the car.

"That the air vents, then?" I asked, trying to keep the sarcasm out of my voice. I didn't try very hard though, and I supposed it showed.

"What else could it be?" Milo asked rhetorically, his voice still calm. The growling continued and Cheen looked up at me with panicking eyes.

"What the _hell_ is that!" she exclaimed.

"It's just- just the hydraulics," Milo said unconvincingly. Cheen stared out the window with wide eyes.

"It sounds like it's alive," she murmured hysterically.

"It's all exhaust fumes down here; nothing can breathe down here," Milo insisted.

"Calling Car 4-5-6-diamond-6, repeat, calling Car 4-5-6-diamond-6." Cheen jumped at the woman's voice on the radio.

"This is Car 4-5-6-diamond-6," Milo answered, lifting the radio receiver to his mouth. "Who are you, and where are you?"

"I'm in the fast lane, about fifty yards behind. Can you get back up? Can you get off the fast lane?"

"We only have permission to go down, we need the Brooklyn Flyover," Milo replied, shaking his head.

"It's closed, go back up," the voice on the other end ordered.

"We can't, we'll just go round," Milo insisted.

"Don't you understand? They're closed, they're _always closed_! We're stuck down here! There's something else in the fog. Can't you hear it?" the voice shouted back, losing patience. Cheen whimpered.

"That's just the air vents," Milo repeated. I snatched the radio from him.

"Jehovah, what are you? Some stupid kid! Get out of here!" There was screaming and the growling got louder.

"What's happening? Where are you exactly?" I said into the radio.

"We can't move, it's got us!" the voice shouted back.

"Where are you? I can get you out, just _listen to me!_" I shouted.

"I can't- I don't- What the hell is this thing!" she shouted, terror rising in her voice. "Just drive, you idiots! Get out of here!"

"Tell me where you are! I can help! I can save you!"

"Get out! Just-" All we heard was screaming. I could feel the color drain from my face as I tightened my hand around the radio, steeling myself, before turning to Milo.

"Do as she said," I ordered, my voice in a monotone. "Drive. Straight ahead and fast."

Milo glanced at Cheen before pressing his foot against the gas, pushing us away from the scene. I was about to speak when I felt a pull on my mind. Recognizing the Doctor, I lowered my mental barriers.

_What? You need me to save you?_

_No, I need you to save yourself. There are Macra down there, Athena. _Marcra! _They feed off of-_

_Gas, I know. The filthier the better. Textbooks from- Rasillion! That was close! _My hand gripped Milo's chair tighter as the claws reached out more and more urgently to ensnare us.

_Athena! Get yourself out of there!_

_Not yet, I can't. I am not leaving these two behind. There was a car behind us, Doctor. That's three more people, lost, on this motorway. Who knows how many more!_

_Listen to me! You need to leave! Now!_ I cut the connection.

"Turn everything off!" I ordered. "Those things can see the lights! Turn off the engines!"

"What if you're wrong?" Milo shouted over the ever-present growling.

"Just do it!" I yelled, losing my patience. "I know these things! They're called Macra! That man you kidnapped me from, _my father_, knows all about these things! Just turn off the bloody engines!"

At the reminder, Milo relented. His hands flew over the controls, pressing down buttons and switches before powering down. The Macra retreated, just as I said.

I exhaled deeply, relaxing my nerves.

"You better think of something quick," Milo said, staring at the controls. "Without the engines, we've lost the air-con. If we don't switch 'em back on, we won't be able to breath."

"How long we got?"

"About eight minutes," Milo deadpanned.

"Guys, I need you to trust me," I said to the air. Milo and Cheen turned to me with incredulous looks on their faces. "You've got your faith, you've got your songs and hymns and I've got the Doctor. And," I began to smile. "A time vortex manipulator."

"Sorry, a what?" Cheen asked, the hysteria fading into exhausted tension.

"Does not matter. Listen. We either lose all our air and die or we switch back the engines and hope that the Macra don't catch us long enough to think of something, correct? Not correct. This thing," I said, pointing to my bracelet. "Can take us anywhere. Anywhere I want. Of course, I could have left right after I woke up but where's the fun in that, eh? Good thing I did, too, otherwise you two'd be goners," I winked.

"Anyway, my _real_ point is-" Another pull at my mind. "Hold that thought."

_Athena, it's the Face of Boe. He's here. He's keeping everyone alive down there. I don't have much time so pay attention. The Senate, everyone in the above city, is dead. There was a new mood called Bliss. It was too addictive, too perfect, and it eventually mutated into a virus. The virus killed everyone but the Face of Boe and Novice Hame. Long story, tell you that later. The moral of the story: get up here and help me get more power! I can't do much without draining the Face of Boe's life force._

_Roger that. I was just about to teleport us all up anywhere. Give me coordinates and I'll get there._

The coordinates drifted through my mind and I tapped them into the vortex manipulator.

"Give me your hands," I commanded. The couple glanced at each other anxiously and I grimaced. "My uncle is up in that city literally _dying_ so that my father and I can get this motorway cleared. _Give me your hands_!"

Cheen was the first to offer me her hand, the other lying gently on her abdomen. Milo glanced around the car sadly before tightening his hand around my wrist.

"Now hold on and pray to Jehovah that you don't let go," I said evenly, slamming my palm against the vortex manipulator's controls.

* * *

><p>"'Bout time you made it!" the Doctor shouted, jumping around the electrical wires. The Face of Boe- Jack- floated in his glass case, his eyes nearly closed.<p>

"_Amber,"_ he said telepathically. I smiled tightly.

"I've known you all my life and you still don't use the right name," I chuckled, studying the wires. The Doctor paused, glancing at me.

"Amber?"

"My birth name," I responded, shaking my head. "Face, if Martha finds out, I am killing a past version of you in as many inventive ways as I can think of." He only laughed his ancient laugh.

"So how do you know the Face of Boe?" the Doctor said, his sonic in his mouth as his hands untangled color coded wires.

"I guess you could call him a family friend," I shrugged, rearranging my own set of cords.

"There's just not enough- power, in this stupid grid!" the Doctor growled. I grimaced, taking out my own sonic screwdriver. I clicked it and the light flickered purple before strengthening. The Doctor paused again. "What's that?"

"Sonic screwdriver," I said, waving it towards him.

"But that's just like-"

"Every good time traveler needs a sonic. I had a sonic pen a while back but _somebody_ took it to work and lost it on some moon or other." The Face of Boe sighed, remembering.

I smacked the side of a monitor.

"Come on, come on, come on! There's got to be something I'm missing here, something so-" I kept on rambling, only just noticing the short conversation between the Doctor and the Face of Boe.

"_Doctor… Athena… I give you my last," _he murmured, his eyes closing.

"Hame, look after him. Don't go dying on me, you big old face. You've got to see this," the Doctor said, bouncing around. I beat him to the lever, pushing it all the way down.

But it didn't work. I glanced around, the panic from my human side growing steadily. I heard a voice in my head that sounded like a mix of the TARDIS's voice and my mum's- Bad Wolf.

_Use me, child. Let me loose. No harm will come to your friends… Let me out... Let me free!_

And I did, just a little. I loosened my hold on the power locked up inside of me, something I was taught to do from a young age.

I could feel the vortex activating inside me. My hands started to glow a ruddy gold, yellowing and brightening with each passing moment until each cell of my being felt like it was on fire. I could feel the universe pounding in my head, but that was all. My mind wasn't burning, I wasn't being crushed under the weight of it all. I was holding the universe on my shoulders without crippling under it's vastness.

I moved on instinct. If not instinct, then subconscious thought. My hand moved to my lips and I kissed my fingers. My hand left, the glowing residue of time shining on the tips of my fingers. Without a second thought, I gently tapped the machine, beaming happily as it powered on.

"Open the roads! Ha!" the Doctor grinned. I snatched the microphone, the glow fading so fast I was almost sure I imagined it.

"Sorry, I'm not Sally Calypso. She was just a hologram. My name's Athena and I'm bringing you one very important order: drive up.

"You heard me! Drive up! I've opened the roof of the motorway-"

"Hey, I did most of the work!" the Doctor protested in the background.

"-Come on you lot, throttle those engines. All of you, the whole under city, drive up," I grinned. The Doctor stole the microphone as a voice came on.

"Didn't I tell you not bad, sir? Not bad at all," the cat man's voice rang out.

"You keep driving, Brannigan. All the way up. Cause it's here, waiting for you. The city of New New York and its yours'. And I'll be wanting my coat back," the Doctor added. The voice on the other end chuckled.

"I'd say that's a fair bargain," he purred.

"I'll go get Martha," I said quietly, my happiness dissolving as I took in the state of the Face of Boe. His case had cracked, shattering slowly. It was only a matter of time before it broke and he'd be open to the air, just enough life left to breath.

The Doctor nodded distantly and I pressed my mum's TARDIS key, almost always hanging around my neck, into the special slot I had made for it. Automatic transport: it takes you directly into the TARDIS with only a warning to the Doctor's sonic screwdriver as evidence of the fact.

I raced into the console room, grabbed Martha's hand, and punched in the coordinates for the Senate.

"Doctor?" Martha called out, her eyes unadjusted to the sudden darkness.

"Over here," he nodded sadly. We followed the sound of his voice to the Face of Boe, now breathing in fresh air for the first time in years. Cheen and Milo stood in a corner silently, watching Hame and the Doctor.

"What's that?" she asked, unaware of the callous tone her words took. My friend, my uncle, was _dying_, and she called him a 'that'.

"He's the Face of Boe," the Doctor said, looking over at us. I smiled tightly, walking closer to my uncle before kneeling next to him. "It's alright, come say hello. And this is Hame. She's a cat, don't worry."

"He's the one that saved everyone, not us," I said quietly, smiling gently at the Face of Boe. He was so different after millennia of living. There was close to nothing left of the Jack Harkness I saw not three days ago.

"My lord gave his life to save the city," Hame said, her eyes watering. "And now he's dying."

"No, don't say that," the Doctor protested quietly. "Not old Boe, plenty of life left."

"_It's good to breathe the air once more."_

"Who is he?" Martha asked the Doctor quietly. I laid a hand gently on the side of his face, smiling weakly.

"I don't even know," answered the Doctor. "Legends says that the Face of Boe has live for billions of years. Isn't that right? And you're not about to give up now."

"_Everything has it's time. You know that better than most, old friend."_

"The legend says more," said Hame. The Doctor shook his head.

"There's no need for that."

"What does it say?" Martha asked. I sighed.

"Legend says that the Face of Boe will speak his final secret… to a traveler," Hame continued.

"Yeah, but not yet. Who need secrets, eh?" the Doctor pressed.

"Doctor," I said quietly, getting his attention. "Let him speak. He's waited years to tell you this. Isn't that right, old friend?"

"_We've seen much, my friends. Perhaps too much. I am the last of my kind, just as you are the last of yours', Doctor."_

"Not completely true, Boe. He's still got me," I smiled.

"_Oh, _I've_ missed you, child. It's been far too long since I saw you last, so many years past."_

"It's been only a few days for me," I chuckled, trying to blink my vision clear. "Funny how time works, eh?"

"But that's why we have to survive," the Doctor said quietly. "Both of us. Don't go."

"_I must, my friend. But know this, Time Lord. You are not alone." _

And with that, the Face of Boe, the impossible man, the Captain Jack Harkness, closed his eyes for the last time.

I sighed shakily before standing to my feet as Novice Hame broke down in sobs. Martha backed away quietly to stand with Cheen and Milo.

I glanced hesitantly at my father with the intent to look away but I found myself ensnared by the expression on his face. His eyes were darkened with a confusion so powerful that it seemed dangerous. Almost as if it were a warning to any willing to get in between him and what he wanted to know. His old eyes glowed dully with grief and sadness and his jaw fell open slightly.

"Who was he?" the Doctor asked me tightly. I shook my head slightly.

"A great man," I smiled proudly at what was left of the good old Captain Jack.

* * *

><p>AN:

Aww, Jack :(

Excuse me while I cry );

Anyway, sorry for the long wait. I'll try to update more regularly, but no promises. Sorry, can't make any deals at the moment. My life's a bit too hectic for compromise.

o.O Susie O.o


	15. Chapter 15

A/N:

Sorry about the huge delay in updates... I just sorted out all of the chapters and I have the first forty, done. As in, another 26 after this one... O_O

When do I do this much writing? 'Cause I definitely didn't do anything during the hiatus...

Anyway, I don't own DW :(

* * *

><p>~Athena's POV~<p>

Walking down through Pharmacy Town, I got the feeling that the Doctor threatened the mood dealers to pack up and get out. There was no one in the streets, no vendors or buyers. All was eerily quiet.

"All closed down," I said, nodding awkwardly.

"Happy?" Martha smiled, looking at the Doctor.

"Happy-happy," he corrected. "New New York can start again. And now they've got Novice Hame to look after them. Just what every planet needs: a cat in charge. Anyway, time we were off."

"What d'you think the Face of Boe meant? About being not alone?"

"Honestly? No idea," the Doctor shrugged.

"Well, you've got me," she said earnestly. I raised an eyebrow.

_You couldn't get rid of me if you tried,_ I thought, directing the thought towards his mind. He glanced at me, reminded of the bond we had.

"Is that what he meant?" Martha continued, stepping forward. The Doctor smiled.

"I don't think so," he said, his voice cracking just a bit at the end. "Sorry."

"Then what?" Martha asked, the smile melting off of her face.

"Doesn't matter; back to the TARDIS, off we go," he said cheerily, his hands in his coat pockets as he walked away.

Martha, unsatisfied, straightened a fallen chair and sat down. I cleared my throat and the Doctor turned around.

"What, are you staying?"

"Until you talk to me properly, yes I am," she replied, her voice determined. "What did he mean, the last of your kind?"

"It really doesn't matter," the Doctor insisted. I bit my lip. This was a sensitive subject.

"You don't talk, you never say! Why not?"

Her interrogation was cut short by the singing. The whole of the city singing once more, now in freedom.

"It's the city," Martha said a little incredulously. "The city's singing."

"I lied to you," the Doctor said after a long pause. I stepped forward but he shooed me away. "It's okay. I lied to you so I could pretend, even for just a moment, I could imagine that they were still alive. Underneath the burnt orange sky. I'm not just a Time Lord… I'm the last of the Time Lords. The Face of Boe was wrong- there's no one else."

"What happened?" Martha asked, her question almost a gasp. The Doctor sighed almost inaudibly and he lifted another chair, bringing it close to Martha. I followed suit.

"There was… a war. A Time War. The last great Time War. My people fought against a race called the daleks, for the sake of all creation. And they lost. We lost. Everyone lost. They're all gone now. My family, my friends… even that sky.

"Oh, you should have seen it, that old planet. The second sun would rise in the south, and the mountains would shine."

"The leaves on the trees were silver. They caught the light each morning and made the forests look as if they were on fire," I said quietly. The Doctor looked at me with surprise and I smiled sadly. "You told my mum all about Gallifrey. The song of the autumn wind, blowing through the branches. The fields of red grass rippling in the slightest breeze. The Citadel of the Time Lords overlooking the universe below in it's own bubble of time… "

* * *

><p>I sat in the library, a forgotten book comparing the physiology of Time Lords and humans lying next to my now cold cup of tea. My arms wrapped tightly around me legs, I rested my chin on my knees, watching the Doctor study me. Every once in a while he'd open his mouth to speak but he quickly snapped his jaw shut.<p>

I shifted my attention to the fireplace. Embers still somehow crackled happily, despite the tension in the room. The rest of the room was silent aside from the occasional hum from the TARDIS. I wasn't privy to their conversations but there was no doubt in my mind what they were talking about.

"Can you just say something already? Or at least let me get back to my book," I sighed, losing patience. That was always one of my worst qualities. I was too busy rushing about, doing as I like, to care much for rules, regulations, or laws of nature.

"How long have you known?" Again, the topic was easy to guess at.

"All my life."

"Who is your mother?"

"Spoilers," I sighed. "I haven't been conceived yet. If I tell you who my mum is, you'll end up doing something that'll screw up the time steam and I don't like the idea of fading away very much. Just know that you loved her enough to tell her your name."

"Do I know her yet?" was his next question. I raised an eyebrow and he backtracked. "Okay, spoilers. I get it… How'd you get involved with Torchwood?"

"Can't you just pick an easy question? Okay, okay… The Torchwood you know and probably despise, the one that you lost Rose to, is a different one from the one I've grown up with. I've been officially working with Torchwood since I was eight but I've always been welcomed there. I built my first successful vortex manipulator when I was nine. I gave Jack one of the later prototypes, which he uses now, on my tenth birthday. After I turned thirteen, I started working full time with Torchwood. I was halfway through college," I grinned. "I majored in Physics, Biology, Organic Chemistry, Anthropology, and Law. I got a masters in Medicine and Linguistic Anthropology."

"Anthropology, really?" the Doctor said, surprised. I smiled my mum's smile.

"You've been very busy, Doctor. Tell me, have you met River Song yet?"

"Who?"

"Guess that answers my question… Anyway, Jack became my official partner. We dealt with the more hostile species. If you had waited another six hours you would have seen us with the Racnoss. We got delayed when the Boss found out we weren't planning on taking a hit team with us."

"Who's the Boss?"

"Mum," I shrugged. "She thought it was irresponsible of Jack to let a sixteen year old girl walk into a spider's nest with no one but the good old captain as backup. She was disappointed we missed you."

~The Doctor's POV~

_There's only one person it can be… That smile… Jack… Torchwood… Gallifrey… That was description I gave _her_. Bad Wolf… That glow back on New Earth, _my thoughts raced, rushing back to that moment. It was only out of the corner of my eye, but I could clearly see the time energy enveloping Athena. I could hear the vortex singing distantly behind me. It didn't seem to hurt her, not like it did Rose, and it looked like she could control it.

Imagine that, a half-human able to wield the power of the time vortex so freely. The Time Lords must be turning over in their time lock.

_She could become a monster._

_Or,_ a small voice, one that sounded like Donna, _she could be brilliant._

~Athena's POV~

He worked it out. I could see it in his eyes as emotions flitted through them. First shock, then happiness, then confusion, followed by yet more happiness, and ending with an emotion I could not identify.

"What's your middle name?" he asked, his voice sounding a little strained. I paused, hesitating for some reason. _Some reason,_ I scoffed to myself. _It isn't just some reason. It's a very good, rather obvious, reason._

"Rose." The voice sounded like mine, but I didn't feel my lips move. The Doctor smiled, just enough to make me smile back.

"Amber Rose Tyler. Good name," he chuckled.

* * *

><p>AN:

Really short chapter, so I'll update again tonight :)

^.^ Susie ^.^


	16. Chapter 16

WARNING: THIS IS THE SECOND UPDATE OF THE NIGHT! Please go back one chapter if you haven't already :) Thank you~

I don't own Doctor Who. At all...

* * *

><p>~Athena's POV~<p>

Current- past?- New York was much more fun than New New York. That was decided by the masses of human-dalek experiments, near death experiences, whiny actresses, and daleks. In all seriousness, how many people can say that they've met the bloody Cult of Skaro?

...

Perhaps _fun_ wasn't the right word for it. There were definite dark sides: the genocide of human-daleks, only minutes after their creation; the fate of the pig slaves; and the fate of Dalek Sec. But some people had a happy ending.

I stood, flanking the Doctor as I waved goodbye to Tallulah, three L's and an H, as she and Lazlo walking into Central Park. Armed with the lab that did the experimentation as well as two brilliant minds, figuring out how to reverse the change was a snap. There were some things we could not change about his physical appearance, but he'd be able to walk the streets again. He had a chance at a normal lifespan and the chance to share it with Tallulah, something he deserved.

The Doctor and I danced around the controls, sneaking the TARDIS into Martha's home. The engines gave their familiar whir and the TARDIS hummed contentedly as she landed, safe and sound.

"Where are we?" Martha asked, curious. The Doctor nodded towards the door.

"End of the line," he said. "No place like it."

Martha excitedly went to the door. Her shoulders slumped.

"Home?" she asked. The Doctor nodded and we followed her out. The phone rang and her mother's voice announced that Martha's sister was on the news. Martha, the ever curious human, clicked on the remote and flipped to the news.

"With the press of a button, I will change what it means to be human," an old man said into a microphone. He looked wealthy in his flashy suit, his slightly rounded belly hiding behind the podium at which he stood. A dark skinned woman, whom I assumed to be Tish Jones, stood behind him, her eyes moving in every direction.

The news forgotten, the Doctor leaned against the TARDIS.

"I suppose that's it then?" Martha asked quietly. The Doctor hummed, nodding his head slowly. "Guess it all kinda escalated, huh?"

"Suppose so, yeah."

"Thank you. For everything," Martha said earnestly. The Doctor smiled at her easily.

"It was my pleasure."

After a moment, he turned and walked away into the TARDIS. Martha turned away, her eyes filling with surprise when she saw that I had been left behind.

"What are-"

"Don't worry 'bout it. He'll be back in three... two...-" I was interrupted by that comforting whir. The bluest blue box appeared once more, just where it had been. My father's head poked out of the door.

"I'm sorry, did he say he was going to change what it meant to be human?"

* * *

><p>"Stop fidgeting," the Doctor said to me again. I scowled at my outfit. The dress was a simple velvety black strapless dress that fell just above my knees and clung to my skin. It was decorated with golden bamboo twigs that seemed out of place, at least to me. I wore board shorts under my dress, not that it mattered. My black strapped heels were too tall for me to run in. Out of everything, it was the heels that bothered me. They made me feel restrained.<p>

"I hate heels," I complained. The Doctor laughed.

"And I hate this suit; d'you see me moaning about it?"

"It suits you," Martha said. I wasn't exactly sure who she was talking to until she finished with, "like James Bond."

"Really?" the Doctor said, clearly amused by the comparison.

* * *

><p>"Oh, they got nibbles! I love nibbles," the Doctor informed Martha as he helped himself to the hors d'oeuvres offered to him by a staff member.<p>

I rolled my eyes at him, aware of Martha's sister as she came to greet her sister.

"Well, hello," Tish smiled warmly, giving her sister a hug.

"Tish!" Martha greeted.

"Wow, you look great! So, what d'you think? Pretty impressive, isn't it?" she said, glancing around the large hall. Martha nodded her agreement.

"Very," she responded loyally.

"Hm, two nights out in a row, that's dangerously close to a social life for you," Tish said, only half joking.

"Hush, you," Martha laughing ordered. She glanced back at us. "Oh, this is the Doctor and Athena," she introduced.

"How'd you get in? I don't think you two are on the list," Tish said thoughtfully. I cleared my throat, pulling out a letter of recommendation written by one of my college professors from my small handbag.

"I was in the neighborhood, wanted to stop by. My advanced bio chemistry professor in college recommended that I take a look at Lazarus if I wanted a career in bio mechanics."

"College?" Tish asked incredulously. I was reminded that I was only seventeen. Martha saved me by rolling her eyes.

"The girl's a genius, Tish. Talkin' circles around me with medical terms," she joked. Tish looked a little less suspicious and turned to the Doctor.

"How'd you get in, then?"

"He's my plus one," Martha said awkwardly, saving him from lying. He didn't look very comfortable, but I managed to keep my expression smooth.

"So this Lazarus, he's your boss?" the Doctor asked loudly.

"Professor Lazarus," Tish corrected. "Yes, I'm part of his executive staff."

"She's in the PR department," Martha said, her voice slightly condescending.

"Head of the PR department, actually," Tish shot back, sounding offended but proud. "I put this whole thing together."

"So, do you know what he's going to do tonight?" the Doctor asked.

"That looks like a sonic microfield manipulator," I added. Tish laughed under her breath.

"Science geek, I see."

"And proud of it," I grinned.

Tish said her goodbyes, claiming that she had to return to work, and left the three of us alone.

I spotted a woman walking close to us and I chose then to make my escape, not really caring to meet Martha's mother.

"I'll be back. Gonna poke around a bit," I murmured to the Doctor. He shot me an amused look.

"Don't get caught," he warned. I laughed.

"Look who's talking!" I retorted. He grinned cheekily.

"From experience," he added. "Hello, I'm the Doctor. You must be Martha's mother," he greeted more loudly.

I slipped away to look at the controls, flashing my psychic paper whenever someone looked at me funny. I studied the system critically before slipping back into the crowd, finding the Doctor and Martha.

"Who's this?" Martha's mother asked abruptly.

"There you are Doctor. I've been looking all over for you," I said.

"I haven't exactly left," he said cheekily. I rolled my eyes, pretending to finally see Martha's mother.

"Oh, so sorry. You must be Martha's mother, right?"

"Who are you?"

"Athena Smith, it's a pleasure to meet you," I greeted, extending my hand. She nodded, grasping my outstretched hand with a somewhat disdainful expression on her face.

"Ladies and gentlemen," I heard a voice announce. I turned, following the sound of silverware on glass. There, standing just outside the sonic microfield manipulator, was Richard Lazarus. "Tonight, I am going to perform a miracle. It is, I believe, the most important advance since Rutherford split the atom, the biggest leap since Armstrong stood on the moon. Tonight, you will watch and wonder. Tomorrow, you'll awake to a changed world."

_Well that sounds just peachy, doesn't it?_ the Doctor thought to me, reestablishing the mental connection. I couldn't help but snicker, turning dozens of eyes towards me. I coughed into my hand, a little embarrassed.

Cameras flashed behind us as Lazarus turned, opening the door to the machine behind him. I felt a flash of panic, knowing that there would be tremendous risk for him. Lazarus was right, he was going to be changed if he stepped inside of that thing.

_What's he thinking? Doesn't he know what that can do?_ I thought urgently towards the Doctor. He nodded, his expression grave, and I could see his thoughts following mine.

Lazarus shut the door behind him and a pair of female technicians began flipping switches all over the control panels. One of the two women raised her hand, sharing a glance with the other technician before slamming her palm down onto a giant red button.

A blinding light filled the air, forcing the humans to shield their eyes. The Doctor and I merely watched as the machine came to life. The four columns surrounding the central enclosed space into which Lazarus had vanished suddenly began moving, swirling on their constructs. The light grew dimmer before sparking upwards. A loud alarm wailed through the room.

"Something's wrong," the Doctor murmured.

"It's over-loading!" I responded urgently, jumping towards the controls, already fishing my sonic out of my bag.

Sprinting around the table to avoid ripping my dress, I took a place next to the Doctor, analyzing and responding to the data as it was delivered. We both began pushing buttons that, from an outsider's perspective, would have looked random. I withdrew my sonic and pressed it to the controls, trying to limit the radiation emitted by the sonic microfield manipulator.

"Somebody stop them! Get them away from those controls!" an older woman screeched at us. I spared time to glare up at her.

"That thing's gonna blow, so unless you want the building to collapse, shut your mouth!" I shouted at her. I turned towards the Doctor. "We gotta shut it down!"

But he was already there, jumping to the other side of the table. He gripped a thick power cord and ripped it away from the machinery. Lazarus's machine slowly powered down, and Martha ran towards it. She had just got a hold of the handle as a voice shouted, "Let me out!"

She obeyed and flung the door wide just as the Doctor and I arrived before the machine. A plume of fog engulfed the inside. A hand gripped the door frame. And Lazarus stepped out unsteadily, leaning heavily against the door.

That didn't shock me. What left me stunned was his appearance. The man, who was by no definitions young, suddenly was. Lazarus's hand went to his cheek and, by the time it fell away, he was smiling, an almost manic look in his eyes.

He stumbled the rest of the way out, his every move illuminated by a camera's flash.

"Ladies and gentlemen," he said in a soft voice. "I am Richard Lazarus. I am 76 years old, and I am reborn!"

The crowd erupted in applause, leaving only my father and I, staring at each other and Lazarus with horror.

* * *

><p>AN:

So yes... I kind of skipped the entire Daleks in Manhattan episode... I did actually start writing it, but after nine chapters of nothing, I kind of gave up on it and started with Lazarus. Much more fun to write.

Till next update,

^.^ Susie ^.^


	17. Chapter 17

A/N:

I don't own Doctor Who, but I hope you like the chapter :)

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><p>~Athena's POV~<p>

Martha stared at the man now giving away photo opportunities.

"It must be a trick," she repeated. "It can't be the same man."

"Oh it's not a trick," the Doctor said seriously.

"I wish it were..." I added.

"What just happened, then?" Martha asked, turning around to face the Doctor. He and I shared a glance before we both looked back at Lazarus.

"He just changed what it means to be human," the Doctor said finally.

A shudder went through Lazarus and he snatched a plate off of a passing waiter, stuffing the hors d'oeuvres into his mouth as fast as he could.

"I'm famished," he defended as the old woman, probably his partner, scolded his behavior. I stepped behind him.

"Must be. Energy deficit, happens all the time with this kind of process," I said, surprising the man.

"You talk as if you see this everyday, Miss..." he said, his voice fading away as he turned to lick his fingers.

"Athena. And not really every day, but I have some experience with this type of thing," I said as the Doctor and Martha stepped into my shadow.

"That's not possible."

"Hmm... What d'you think, Doctor? Judging by the light, radiation emissions, and sound made by that, I'd say your sonic microfield manipulator used hypersonic waves to create a state of resonance. Am I correct?"

"What?" Martha asked in confusion.

"It modifies matter. Sort of. Well- ish. Destabilizes it a good bit of the time," the Doctor explained as best he could to Martha.

"It's scary stuff to be playing around with," I added, looking at Lazarus. He looked a bit impressed.

"You're familiar with the theory?"

"Probably more than you are. I've played around with it enough to know that you couldn't possibly have allowed for all the variables."

"No experiment is without risk."

"That thing almost exploded," the Doctor cut in. "You might as have stepped into a blender."

"You've no qualifications to comment," the old lady cut in. I looked at her icily.

"I'm fully qualified, ma'am, so, unless you want to make yourself look like an idiot, I'd let the professor talk."

"What qualifications could you possibly have?" Lazarus said, sounding amused. I raised an eyebrow.

"Wouldn't you like to know? But if the Doctor and I hadn't been here," I said, gesturing to myself and the Doctor, "then you, that machine, and everyone here would have been toasted."

"Then I thank you, Athena," he said, bowing mockingly. "But that's a simple engineering issue. What happened inside that capsule was exactly what was supposed to happen. No more, no less."

"You've no way of knowing that. Not till you run proper tests," Martha quipped.

"Look at me," Lazarus laughed. "You can see what happened. I'm all the proof you need."

"This device will be properly certified before we start to operate commercially," the old woman announced.

_She's really starting to annoy me,_ I decided. The Doctor nodded in my peripheral vision as Martha turned to face the woman.

"Commercially? No I _know_ you're joking. That'll cause chaos!" she exclaimed angrily.

"Not chaos- change," Lazarus corrected. "A chance for humanity to evolve, to improve."

"This isn't about improving anything," the Doctor said, his temper rising again. "This is about you and your customers living a little longer."

"Not a little longer, Doctor. A lot longer- perhaps indefinitely."

"Longer life, even immortality, does not always guarantee improvement. You may call that evolution, but it is nothing more than-"

"Richard," the woman interrupted. "We have things to discuss. Upstairs."

"Goodbye, Athena, Doctor," Lazarus said with a casual wave over his shoulder as he followed the old woman away. He turned suddenly, stopping to look at us. "In a few years, you'll look back and laugh at how wrong you were."

He offered his hand to Martha, who accepted it a little warily. She tensed when, instead of shaking it, he brought her hand to his lips, kissing the back of it before walking away calmly. The Doctor glanced around.

"Oh, he's out of his depth... He's no idea the damage he might've done."

"So what do we do now?" Martha asked the Doctor.

"Well," he exaggerated. "This place is full of laboratories. I think we should run a few of our own tests."

Martha held up her hand, smiling deviously.

"Well then, it's a good thing I just collected a DNA sample, isn't it?"

"Martha Jones, you are a star," the Doctor announced before dragging us away from the crowds, into the facility.

* * *

><p>"Hey, Doctor... Look at this," I called, studying Lazarus' DNA as the information started pouring in. The changes were hardly noticeable to the eye, but they were definitely there.<p>

Feeling the Doctor and Martha step behind me, I leaned to the side so they could see.

"Amazing," the Doctor almost breathed. Martha looked at the numbers and letters in confusion. Understanding her situation, I brushed my fingers against the keyboard, bringing up a diagram of Lazarus' genes. "Watch closely."

A moment passed before the strand flickered to the side before reverting to its former position.

"Oh my God! Did that just change?" Martha gasped. "But it can't have!"

"It did though," the Doctor said. I nodded.

"Two impossible things in one night, eh? This is fantastic," he grinned at me. Martha did not share our enthusiasm.

"No it's not," she said, sounding shocked. "That means Lazarus changed his own molecular patterns."

"Hypersonic soundwaves. They destabilized the cell structure, then a metagenetic program to manipulate the coding in the protein strands," the Doctor analyzed. Seeing Martha's almost incredulous face, I cut in.

"Basically, he hacked into his own genes and told them to rejuvenate," I explained briefly. The Doctor looked slightly crestfallen as Martha comprehended the theory and nodded.

"But they're still mutating now," she realized.

"He must have missed something. Some dormant gene in his DNA has been activated and won't let him stabilize again. It's trying to change him," the Doctor continued.

"Change him into what?" Martha asked. I glanced between her, the screen, and the Doctor.

"I don't know..."

"But I think we'd better find out," the Doctor finished for me. Martha looked up at us.

"That woman said that they were going upstairs," she recalled. The Doctor perked up, already heading for the doors.

"Let's go," he said urgently. Martha and I followed without so much as a word.

* * *

><p>"This is his office, alright," I scoffed as the lights turned on. The room was almost laughably spacious. The office took up nearly the entire floor, and there was hardly anything in it. My own lab back at Torchwood was half the size of this room but had three, if not four, times as many machines, prototypes, and experiments.<p>

"So where is he?" the Doctor wondered aloud. I took the time to explore the room, wondering if the man had any idea how to manage space.

"I dunno, let's try back at the-"

"Doctor!" I shouted, catching sight of something... disturbing. I knelt behind the desk beside the withered husk of a woman. I recognized the ugly dress and frowned. "It's Lady Thaw," I said, scanning her quickly with the sonic screwdriver to confirm it. I glanced at the small screen and sighed my confirmation.

"Used to be, anyway," the Doctor said. Martha looked torn between shock and disgust. "Now its just a shell. Had all the life drained out of her."

"Like squeezing the juice out of an orange."

Martha didn't seem to appreciate my rather accurate analogy.

"Lazarus?" Martha asked.

"Could be," was the Doctor's short reply.

"So he's changed already?"

"Possibly, but not necessarily. You saw the DNA, it was fluctuating. The process must demand energy. This might not have been enough."

"So he might do this _again_?" Martha asked, sounding almost affronted at the idea. The Doctor hummed, shrugging his shoulders, and Martha got to her feet.

The two ran to the elevator doors and the Doctor pushed the button. They doors opened slowly and they rushed in. I paused at the doors, looking back at the office.

"This is too familiar," I murmured to myself. My eyes widened when I realized the connection. "Doctor!"

"What?" he asked back, sounding concerned. I shook my head wildly.

"This is my fault!"

"What are you going on about? This is-" I interrupted Martha's declaration.

"No, not that. The sonic microfield manipulator! This is one of _my_ experiments! About seven months ago, Torchwood's system was hacked. Whoever did it had time to copy a few files off of my hard drive. We didn't have any leads, and nothing showed up in the news, so we all figured they didn't get anything important from it, but this was my test!"

"Why on Gallifrey would you need a bloody microfield manipulator?" the Doctor asked me, sounding torn between anger and shock.

"I was tinkering with it on a small scale, _much_ smaller than this. As in, individual cells-small. I wanted to see if I could program the sound waves to target cancerous cells and mutate them back into healthy human cells."

"So how's that turn into this?" Martha asked.

"I had a lot of theory to back this all up. Books from all over the universe, personal experiences from a dozen different people, my own cleverness. I managed to get lymphoma cells to revert to a harmless fat, but they weren't stable. After running about seventy trial runs I pulled the plug, but the data was still there. If Lazarus got a hold of it, he could have just tweaked it a bit to order proteins to rejuvenate instead of stop. If he didn't finish reading my reports..."

"What happened to the cells?" the Doctor asked urgently. I looked up at him, still ashamed of my mistake.

"The cancer would transform. The cells started growing rapidly, but there wasn't enough energy to sustain them. They turned to cannibalism to keep going. They began mutating after about two cell cycles. After the fourth, they hardly looked human. If they got past the eighth cycle, the only thing that could kill them was a sonic pulse, and a damn strong one at that."

"How long's the cycle?" Martha asked. I saw the calculating look in the Doctor's eyes.

"About eighteen minutes."

"Then he's already transformed!" Martha exclaimed, glancing at the clock. The elevator doors opened behind Martha and the Doctor.

"There's one more thing. The cells I was experimenting on were recycling their life energy. They could only get weaker. If Lazarus grabs a hold of someone young, plenty of life, the cycle could, in theory, speed up."

"Meaning?"

"Lazarus will only get stronger. Meaning, we have even less time to finish this."

* * *

><p>AN:

Ooh, plot twist ^-^

Gotta watch out for those sonic microfield manipulators *shakes head*

Anyway, please review! Reviews=happy Susie x3

^.^ Susie ^.^


	18. Chapter 18

A/N:

Warning: expect lots and lots of updates on this story tonight and tomorrow. I looked and I realized I have soooo many unpublished chapters written and *sorta* edited. AS IN, ALMOST TWENTY OF THEM. Fun fact: I don't edit anything I post. I just write and hope that if something is _really_ screwed up, someone will review and point it out. ^.^

not owning... doctor... who... *yawn*

* * *

><p>~Athena's POV~<p>

_He was getting cozy with Tish a minute ago._

Martha's brother's words rang in my ears as I tapped my foot impatiently. When the wait seemed unbearable, I glanced around to check that the coast was clear before grabbing the Doctor's and Martha's arms, typing rapidly into the vortex manipulator, and slamming my palm down onto it.

"Between the idea and the reality," I heard Lazarus's voice from the other side of the door. We were standing at the top of the stairs. Tish and Lazarus were just yards away, separated by a door. "Between the motion and the act-"

"Falls the shadow," I recited, pushing the door open. Lazarus turned, a surprised expression on his face.

"So, the mysterious Athena knows her Eliot. I'm impressed," he remarked. Tish looked at us, a subtly annoyed look on her features.

"Martha, what're you doing here?" she asked her sister. Martha swallowed.

"Tish, get away from him," she said quietly, leaning towards her sister.

"What? Don't tell me what to do," Tish countered snidely.

"Wouldn't thought you had time for poetry, Lazarus. What with you being so busy defying the laws of nature," the Doctor said, his light tone contrasting the darkness in his eyes.

"You're right, Doctor. One lifetime's been too short for me to do everything I'd like. How much more would I get done in two, or three, or four?"

"Doesn't work like that," the Doctor said calmly.

"Don't you get it? Some people live more in twenty years than other do in eighty," I added in. "Guess you wouldn't know, though. Too busy hacking into _my_ network."

Lazarus, when he spoke again, chose to ignore my jab.

"But if it's the right person, what a gift that would be," Lazarus said.

"Or a curse... Look at what you've done to yourself," the Doctor said sadly. Lazarus bristled in hidden anger.

"Who are you to judge me?" he asked, his voice not betraying the anger he felt.

"Over here, Tish," Martha said, beckoning her sister to us. She came, if only to yell at her sister.

"You have to spoil everything, don't you? Every time I find someone nice, you have to go and find fault!"

"Tish, he's a monster!"

I couldn't hear more of their conversation. My hearing continued to work perfectly, but my attention was definitely elsewhere as I watched Lazarus fall back, his bones contorting. The Doctor and I watched soundlessly as he transformed. The other girls only turned around, their faces falling into masks of horror, when they heard the growling and saw the monster Richard Lazarus had become.

He was vaguely scorpion-like in shape. He stood on four legs, with four arms protruding from his torso and shoulders. A thick tail flew up behind him, complete with three finger-like appendages surrounding a central stinger. His skin had turned to a dark ocher color accented with a fleshy pink. His skin clung closely to his skeletal structure, forcing each rib to jut out from his chest. His head remained humanoid in appearance except for two major differences. The first: it appeared as if his brain was open to the air. The second: his jaws, instead of opening and closing as they should, formed mandibles that stretched what was his jaw line. The mandibles matched his youthful appearance until they flew open horizontally, revealing rows of yellowed teeth.

At the sight, the Doctor and I shouted one word in unison.

"RUN!"

~the Doctor's POV~

_How'd I end up here?_

One moment, I passing my sonic off to Martha, telling her to get everybody out. The next, I'm crawling in between pipes and tubes in the dark. Martha and her family were out. Athena was out. _Hopefully,_ I added mentally.

After pushing the sonic screwdriver into Martha's hand, telling her which setting, Athena had more or less vanished. One instinct told me that she was perfectly fine. Another wanted me to find her, make sure that she was safe. The rest of them screamed for me to stop the monster Lazarus had become so I'd make sure _everybody_ was safe.

The lights flicked on and I froze, hearing a sudden growling above me. I looked up slowly, not wanting to see what I knew to be there.

"Peek-a-boo."

"Oh... Hello..." was all I managed. The jaws opened open wide and I ran for it.

~Athena's POV~

The doors flung wide and I looked up, surprised to see the Doctor. He looked just as surprised to see me, seeing as he stopped short.

"What are you doing here?" we asked in unison. "You first. No, you. No, you!"

I heard a crash behind him and I sighed tensely, glad I had thought to come here. I gestured to the lab table I was working at.

"Acetic acid, bromobenzene, morpholine, pyridine, nitric acid," I named, pointing to each of the flammable and combustible compounds I had gather around me. "I've got hazardous chemicals at every table. Open up all the gas valves and I'll play with the wiring," I ordered.

The Doctor's eyes lit with understanding and he ran around the room, opening the valves at each station. I pulled out my sonic and jumped to the table, glad I was wearing board shorts under my dress when the material ripped rather easily, leaving a slit that stopped two inches from my hip.

Ignoring the now ruined piece of clothing, I carefully ripped the wiring open, exposing the copper wire to the air so that, when I flicked the switch, the spark would escape into the now volatile air.

"More hide and seek, Doctor?" Lazarus' now twisted voice asked menacingly. "How disappointing... Why don't you come out and face me?"

"Have you looked in the mirror lately?" the Doctor asked. I couldn't help but snicker at the jab, even with the situation. We had the upper hand for a short while. I took the time to rid myself of my heels, slipping on the Converse I kept hidden in my small bag.

"Why would he want to look at that?" I asked, standing once my shoes were tied securely. "Hm?"

Lazarus snarled and I leaned backwards.

"Run, run now!" I shouted at the Doctor. I caught a flash of a grin as he led me out. I flicked the light switch at the door, bracing myself for the impact.

~the Doctor~

I admit it: I was a little stunned at the _size_ of the explosion. Of course, being sent flying tends to do that to you. Athena landed beside me and she coughed, the air knocked from her lungs. She breathed in slowly, grinning at me.

"That wouldn't have stopped him," she warned me. I shrugged, standing. I pulled her to her feet carefully, took her by the hand, and ran for both of our lives.

_That was impressive, ya know,_ I said to her mentally, not wanting to use any air for speaking. She turned her head towards me, smirking.

_Tell that to Mum. Apparently, trial and error is not a good way to find out which compounds are most volatile. Still, she was great growing up. Kept me away from aspirin, bullied the teachers into moving me up grades, didn't let anyone near me with a stethoscope- the usual._

I chuckled at her casual statement. It must have been hard to grow up in a human world where you were the only one who wasn't.

We turned a corner and something fell into my arms. More specifically, _someone_.

"What are you doing here?" I asked Martha.

"I'm returning this," she said, holding up my sonic. "Thought you might need it."

"Come on, you two!" Athena said, skidding to a stop just ahead of us.

"How did you-"

"Heard the explosion; figured it was you," she said breathlessly.

"We blasted Lazarus," I explained. Martha gave me a brief smile.

"Did ya kill 'im?" she asked. A loud crash rang through the halls as Lazarus ran through the glass wall.

"Annoyed him, I'd say," Athena said, grabbing Martha's hand and taking off. I followed, Lazarus hot on our trail.

* * *

><p>We ran and ran, ending up in the spacious room where the sonic microfield manipulator, engineered by <em>my daughter<em>, stood.

"We can't lead him outside!" I shouted to Martha and Athena. I wrenched the door to the microfield manipulator open. "Come on! Get in!"

Martha obeyed. Athena did not. Instead, she ran for the controls.

"What're you doing?" I shouted. She looked up at me and I felt her mind touch mine.

_Do you trust me?_

"What kind of question is that?"

_Go inside. Don't come out. Don't fiddle with the controls._

Her eyes began to glow with a ruddy gold light that I recognized.

"Don't do this, Athena. Just-" Lazarus crashed into the room. I couldn't spare any more time.

My thoughts raced, but Athena's mind was calm against my own. My eyes met her now golden eyes and she nodded at me. I stepped into the machine, and closed the door.

"Are we hiding?" Martha asked, pressed against me in the tightness of the capsule. I shook my head slowly.

"No... We're waiting."

~Athena's POV~

I nodded at the Doctor, sure of what I was doing. I had built this machine; I would destroy it, at least when it served its purpose. Poetic symmetry.

I ran through the controls, flipping switches, activating and deactivating systems, displacing wires, and reversing the polarity of the machine so that, instead of the radiation going inside the capsule, it would fan out, hopefully ending Lazarus or stunning him long enough for me to work out a solution.

I was amazed at the slowness with which Lazarus seemed to move. It took a moment for me to realize that Lazarus wasn't slowing down. I was speeding up. I could see time moving around me, and I chose to elude it. I was immune to time's troublesome nature, at least for the moment, and able to control the time vortex freely. It was exhilarating.

When Lazarus finally realized what I was doing, I was long gone. The machine had started to power up, the polarity reversed. Thanks to my miraculous hold on time, I was on the other side of the room before he even came close to me. He raised a claw to turn off the machine, but it was too late.

The machine spewed out energy, striking Lazarus directly. I watched as he writhed, slowly shrinking down into his young human self. I took a tentative walk forward, letting Bad Wolf's energy escape me.

_You two can come out,_ I announced to the Doctor.

The door opened and they stumbled out, both looking around for Lazarus. Understanding their search, I gestured to his spot on the floor.

"What did you do?" Martha asked quietly, studying his form from a safe distance.

"I reversed the polarity on the machine. Two wrongs don't make a right. Two sonic pulses don't reveres the mutation. His genes mutated further and couldn't hold together any longer."

"You killed him?" Martha asked, her eyes wide. I shook my head.

"No... The cell cycle. I calculated it. If he had killed Lady Thaw just after he transformed, that makes the cell cycle just over eleven minutes. If my math is correct, which it definitely is, he's currently undergoing the tenth cycle. A sonic pulse from this machine won't kill him."

"What now?" Martha asked, looking at the Doctor. I looked at the ground.

"I sent for equipment from my lab. I have a portable manipulator in my vault that, amplified by our screwdrivers, should do the trick."

"You didn't destroy it?" the Doctor asked. I shook my head.

"I thought I'd come back to it in a year or two and start over. I didn't think it was a big risk. My hard drive was almost impossible to hack and only three people had access to my vault: myself, Rose, and Jack."

"Rose?" Martha asked, looking at the Doctor. He nodded and I turned back to Lazarus' still form.

A moment passed before a familiar figure phased into the room. A grin was on his lips and my manipulator was in his hands. He all but threw it to me before catching the Doctor in a hug. I sighed, rolling my eyes when Jack moved to kiss him.

"Jack, let the man breathe," I teased. He obeyed, saluting to me before grinning.

"Yes, ma'am. It seems like I missed all the action," Jack noted. glancing at Lazarus. I shrugged.

"Normal day of work. Blew up a lab, ran from something out of a comic, saved a few people, played hide and seek in the dark, reversed the polarity on that thing," I summarized briefly. Jack studied it.

"So... this one of your sonic microfield manipulators?"

"My third prototype, I believe," I said conversationally, setting up my portable. Sensing the confusion emanating from Martha _and_ the Doctor, I explained further. "I developed four different machines, each with different power levels, energy intakes, and such. The third was the least successful, requiring an absurd amount of power and provided the least stable result. This," I said, gesturing to the portable machine, "was my fourth, last, and most successful, if you look at result versus energy intake."

"Did you clear the mainframe?" Jack asked me, surprisingly professionally.

"Didn't get a chance to yet. If you'll finish up here, I can head up to the office," I offered. Jack nodded and I started walking away. I paused a few feet away. "Set it to power level seven. That should stabilize his genes without killing him."

"Got it, Tyler," he winked. I rolled my eyes and continued walking away.

* * *

><p>AN:

Look for the next chapter!


	19. Chapter 19

WARNING: Please go back one chapter if you haven't already. Updates and all that ;)

not owning anything. still. apparently, i don't feel like capitalizing anything either. cool stuff.

* * *

><p>~Athena's POV~<p>

_Almost done?_ I heard the Doctor's voice in my head.

I was almost done. All files that looked even vaguely like my own were destroyed permanently. All I had left to do was physically search Lazarus' lab. I knew I wouldn't have to search any of the other labs; Lazarus was too possessive to allow anyone else to work with or on one of his machines.

_Just about,_ I responded, walking through the large room. It was mostly executive space, but a third of the room, hidden behind a distorted glass wall, was dedicated entirely to science. It was a master's laboratory that reminded me strongly of my own back at Torchwood. Twisted glass instruments, vials and beakers filled with different compounds, centrifuges, and other equipment covered the tables, surrounding balances, gas valves, and hot plates. The whiteboards dotting the room were decorated with dozens of complex mathematical theorems, hypothesis, and chemical equations.

Seeing nothing too dangerous, I turned to leave Lazarus' office for what would hopefully be the last time.

* * *

><p>When I arrived in the reception, Jack, Lazarus, and both sonic microfield manipulators were already gone. The trouble was, so were the Doctor and Martha. I heard a resounding <em>slap<em> outside and I sighed. The Doctor had a way of getting himself slapped, according to my grandmum, whom we had left in the other universe with her husband.

"Stay away from my daughter!" a woman, whom I recognized as Francine Jones, screamed at the Doctor. My father was still cringing, his hand on his reddening cheek as he flexed his jaw.

I stepped in front of the Doctor, my hands up to appease the woman.

"Hold on a-"

_Slap!_

I fell back, holding my cheek in shock as the pain spread. I looked back at the Doctor and shared a commiserating pout. Now I knew why Mum always thought he was a wimp. That _hurt!_ I flexed my jaw under my hand, making sure it still worked.

"And you! Leave us alone!"

"Mum, what are you doing?" Martha demanded, stepping up to her mother. Francine whirled around, her snarl turning into a worried panic.

"They are dangerous! I've been told things," Francine said worriedly, somehow not losing an iota of anger.

"What are you talking about?" Martha asked, verbalizing my thoughts. Her mother gripped her by the shoulders, her other hand gesturing to Lazarus Laboratories wildly.

"Look around you! Nothing but death and destruction!"

"This isn't their fault, Mum! They saved us, all of us!" Martha argued.

"No, Martha," I cut in. "It's alright. If your mum isn't comfortable with us, we'll go. Won't we, Doctor?"

"Oh, hmm. I guess," he shrugged. "Yeah, we could do that."

"But-" Martha began. I looked at her pointedly and she quieted.

"Say goodbye, Martha," her mother ordered. Martha, her eyes filled with both protest and anger, shook her head.

"You can't decided who I can and can't talk to-"

"Martha, it's really alright," I shrugged. _Stay calm. The TARDIS is still at your place. We need to get there before going anywhere,_ I told her mentally. She jumped before looking at me, shock in her wide eyes.

I turned to her mother, bowing my head.

"Your daughter is a very brave young woman. I hope you'd trust her judgment more in the future." I smiled before my hand found the Doctor's. I led him away before he could make a remark.

~Martha's POV~

Escaping Mum's interrogations, I raced back to my flat to the Doctor and Athena.

_If they're still there,_ I thought grimly. Chances were that they'd ditched me. After all, I probably deserved it after how my mum acted before they left.

My fingers nearly dropped my keys, they were shaking so hard, but I paid it no mind as I slipped the right key into the keyhole. I pushed against the door, forcing my way through, and made my way to my bedroom.

I opened the door and I breathed a sigh of relief.

There, standing in the middle of my room, was a big blue box. Not just any box though.

I cautiously walked through my room, my hand hesitantly forming a fist over the wood. I was about to knock when the door opened inwards, revealing Athena. I had never been so glad to see her.

~Athena's POV~

"Hey, there," I grinned at the dark skinned young woman. Martha looked on with an almost hesitant light in her eyes, as if she wasn't sure that we were still here. That look made me self-conscious, and I glanced down at my apparel.

My dress was happily abandoned, as were the heels. I was back to wearing my favorite pair of TARDIS blue Converse. I was wearing slightly ripped black jeans and a peasant style pale green shirt that nearly fell from my shoulders over top a jade green tank top. My vortex manipulator was at home at my wrist. My mum's TARDIS key was hung around my neck like always. There was a new charm on the chain, though: a silver owl, representative of my namesake, Athena, the Greek goddess of wisdom.

Content that my clothes weren't the cause of her staring, I grinned cheekily at Martha.

"You gonna stand there all night?" I winked. Martha snapped out of her trance and a small found its way to her lips. I stepped aside and let her pass me, closing the door behind her as she walked towards the console.

"So... What now?"

"What'cha mean?" the Doctor asked, confused. I could tell he was caught as off guard as I was to Martha's question.

"I mean... I like this and all, but I can't keep going on one this one more trip thing. It's not fair," she said, her face falling into a frown.

"What are you talking about?" the Doctor asked, frowning as well.

"Well, I don't wanna be just a passenger anymore! I mean, have you even considered leaving Athena behind? Even once?"

"In all fairness, I'm probably the last reminder of his home planet he has left," I cut in. "Time Lord culture was defined by telepathy. Without that mental connection, there's a sense of loss. I've felt it for as long as I can remember. That's one of the reasons I joined Torchwood. Jack wasn't afraid to let me mess around in his head," I shrugged.

"Why'd you wanna be in his head?" the Doctor asked, raising an eyebrow. I rolled my eyes.

"For the same reason that you always chat with the TARDIS."

"This is what I mean!" Martha said suddenly, crossing her arms. "I'm always just there, watching the two of you doing whatever you want. I'm not a part of this!"

"Is that what you want?" the Doctor asked seriously. Martha didn't move from her location near the door, but neither did she speak. "Well okay."

"Sorry?" she asked after a moment, turning to him with slight shock on her face.

"Okay," the Doctor repeated. The human stared at him incomprehensively for a moment before her face lit up.

"Oh, thank you, thank you!" she shouted, running towards him. She caught him in a hug, which he reciprocated, smiling.

"C'mon, Martha. The Doctor doesn't have passengers," I rolled my eyes. "Companions, yes. Passengers, not a chance."

The TARDIS summoned me to the controls and I obeyed, grinning at the Doctor's slightly crestfallen face.

"Oi, Doctor!" I grinned from the controls. "You can help as long as you don't kick anything."

"Oh, well thanks for the permission," he said rolling her eyes. "You know, she's my ship!"

"Yeah, but _I'm_ her favorite," I grinned back. The Doctor pouted before following me to the console.

* * *

><p>AN:

Not much to say... Bananas are good... I'm back to capitalizing things properly. Still cool. Like fezzes (Is that how you pluralize 'fez'?) and bowties ;)

^.^ Susie ^.^


	20. Chapter 20

WARNING: Third chapter of the night!

I don't own Doctor Who but I'd be soooooo happy if I did!

* * *

><p>~Athena's POV~<p>

Martha looked on with slight apprehension as the Doctor fiddled with her phone, upgrading it. I'd already done the same to my cell phone, something that Mum had insisted upon when I started making functional vortex manipulators.

"Well, there we go, universal roaming," the Doctor announced. "Never worry about signal again."

"Now way," Martha said, catching her phone as the Doctor tossed it over the console to her. "This is mad! You're telling me that I can phone anyone in space and time on my mobile."

"Only if you know the area code," I grinned, interrupting their short conversation. I looked up briefly from the controls to smile at Martha, something I regretted when the TARDIS shook violently.

"What was that?" Martha asked, panicked. I glanced up at the monitor, my hands flashing across the controls.

"There's a distress signal!" I shouted. "Locking on, might be a bit of- turbulence," I said, stuttering when I was almost knocked to the ground by a wave of motion. I guided the TARDIS to a stop, glancing at the outside conditions reported on the screen.

"C'mon, Martha, let's take a look!"

"No- Don't!" I shouted, looking at the scanning. It was too late though, the Doctor had already opened the door.

"Whoa, now that is _hot_!" the Doctor whistled.

"It's like a sauna in here," Martha added. The two began walking towards a metal door. The Doctor opened it.

"If you can't stand the heat, get out of the-"

I rushed to the still open door.

"There's something more important than-"

"Oi! What are you two doing there!"

I watched as the Doctor and Martha were grabbed and pulled out of the room by people I assumed to be the ship's crew. The door was locked and sealed behind them, leaving me locked inside.

"Impact in 42 minutes, 27 seconds," a mechanical voice announced. I looked back at the scanners.

WARNING! WARNING: PROXIMITY TO SUN. IMPACT IMMINENT! EVACUATE AREA IMMEDIATELY!

"Damn it," I murmured to myself.

~The Doctor's POV~

"42 minutes until what?" I asked the blonde woman, who appeared to be in charge.

"Doctor!" Martha shouted urgently. I followed her to the window.

"42 minutes until we crash into the sun," the woman reported in a monotone.

One word rang through my mind.

_Athena._

"Call the others, I'll get you out!" I shouted, running to the door that separated me from the TARDIS and my daughter.

"Doctor!"

"No!"

"Stop him!"

Voices shouted at me. I threw the door open and a solid wall of heat and steam rolled through me, actually knocking me to the ground.

"My ship's in there!" I heard my voice shout. _My daughter's in there!_ my mind echoed.

"Temperature's gone mad in there!" a female engineer reported, sounding alarmed. "Up three thousand degrees in ten seconds!"

"The closer we get to the sun, the hotter that room's gonna get," a man said to me.

I looked at Martha and found the panic I felt reflected in her eyes.

"Athena," she murmured, her eyes wide. I swallowed.

"She has the vortex manipulator. She's a clever girl, she'll get out," I reassured myself. "Question is, what about us?"

"Who?"

"Our friend is still in there," Martha answered the blonde woman. She shook her head.

"Then I'm very sorry. No chance they're still alive in there. But your friend here was right. We've got to get ourselves out of here first."

"Then turn on the engines and get us the hell away from here!" Martha said impatiently.

"Engineering is this way," one of the men said, pointing away from the sealed room. I nodded and we all ran towards the engine room.

* * *

><p>AN:

Super short.

On to the next one.

Yes, I was totes serious when I said lots and lots of updates. And I totes just used totes. Yep. Me and my hip lingo... I am the oldest fifteen year old on this planet...

-.-' Susie '-.-


	21. Chapter 21

A/N: LAST CHAPTER OF THE NIGHT! Ooh, make sure you're reading the right one!

I don't own anything! Well, Athena is mine. BUT NOTHING ELSE!

* * *

><p>~Athena's POV~<p>

"Oh, this is ridiculous," I murmured, flipping switches around the TARDIS' console. "Can you get me scans of the ship's layout? Signs of life? Anything?"

_One moment, child..._

I waited as patiently as I could until I heard a response.

_Med lab,_ the TARDIS ordered. I obeyed, running away from the controls and into the halls.

I pulled the door open and ran towards the scanners and screens that made their home at the far wall of the med lab. There, on the largest screen, was a three dimensional model of the ship that was dotted with blue dots and a single green dot. Dots that I recognized as life signatures.

_Oh, you are brilliant,_ I beamed to the TARDIS. She hummed proudly, but there was an edge of worry to her satisfaction.

"Any way I could get this portable?"

_There should be a... What do humans call it? A tablet? There should be one nearby. I can connect it to the system._

I followed the TARDIS' instruction, searching through the technology until I found something I recognized as an iPad. The nineteenth generation, if I was correct.

I flipped through the controls quickly, half amused to see that there was indeed an app for what I was looking for.

The iPad took a moment to connect but when it was finished, I held the layout of the ship in my hands. I took a moment to glance at the coordinates of the green dot before typing it in to my vortex manipulator and pressing my hand to the device, feeling the familiar momentary pressure as I traveled away from the TARDIS.

* * *

><p>"Doctor!" I shouted, seeing the man some feet in front of me. He turned and looked at me with apprehension.<p>

"Impact in 34 minutes, 31 seconds," the voice droned.

"What the bloody hell are you doing here!" he shouted at me. I ignored that, running towards him and throwing my arms around him.

"I told you! Don't leave the TARDIS, but no!" I said, worry I hadn't been aware of having leaving my system.

"Who the hell are you?" a blonde woman asked. I resisted the urge to roll my eyes.

"The person who's gonna save your life," I said tersely. I glanced at the iPad. "Okay, looks like there's- Hold on a moment.."

One of the dots turned red.

"That can't be good," I murmured. The Doctor looked at the screen in my hands and his jaw dropped slightly.

"That's medical!" he reported.

"This is med center. Urgent assistance requested Urgent assistance!" a woman's voice said over the intercom. "Urgent assistance!"

The Doctor and I shared a glance before running towards the stairs.

"What's happening to you?" the woman's voice asked, the intercom still on.

"Burn with me," a new voice said. There was a sense of demonic possession in the voice that made me run faster. "Burn with me... Burn... with me.."

"Korwin, you're sick," the woman's voice said worriedly.

"Burn... With... Me!" the voice said more forcefully. A barely audible but shrill drone rang through the intercom, followed quickly by the woman's screams.

"Abi? Abi!"

"Korwin's gone," the captain, McDonnell, said as soon as we entered the med center. I took a look around before glancing around. On the floor were what I assumed were test results, I picked them up curiously, holding them against the light.

"Endothermic vaporization," I heard the Doctor say sadly. I turned to where he was and was surprised to see the dark shadow of what was undoubtedly the woman from the intercom.

"Burn with me," I murmured, turning my eyes back to the test results. They were incredible. His cells were mutating and his bodily processes... It was all changed.

"That's what we heard Korwin say," the man that had followed us said. I believe his name was Scannel.

"What!? That's- What d'you think- Scannel, tell 'em- Korwin's not a killer! He can't vaporize people! He's human!"

"Was," I corrected, studying the test results. "These bioscan results... Internal temperature one hundred degrees. Oxygen replaced by hydrogen," I reported. "This is not just an infection... He's been overwhelmed by whatever this is."

"The test results are wrong!" McDonnell exclaimed, snatching the paper out of my hands.

"What is it, then? Parasite? Mutagenic virus?" the Doctor theorized aloud.

"Something that needs a host body... Where's the ship been? Docked on any- Oh, what am I talking about!? We've got twenty four minutes!" I exclaimed, dashing to the intercom.

"What are you doing?" McDonnell cried out. I ignored her, pressing my hand to the panel.

"Everybody, listen up! If you want to get off of this ship, you better get to Engineering ASAP! Martha, Vashtee, you too!" I shouted.

I ran. I could feel the others following me, but I didn't turn to look to confirm it. If they were smart, which might have been debatable, they would obey.

"What now?" Scannel asked impatiently. I could hear the fear in his voice. I was ready to answer. I glanced out the window briefly.

"We wait for-"

Screaming.

So much screaming.

"Athena? Athena!"

~the Doctor's POV~

I watched, half-frozen, as Athena fell to her knees, her hands clapped against her ears. Her lips moved in silent screams and I rushed to her side.

"Athena? Athena!"

She shuddered and I could feel her arm heating up against my hand.

"S-Screaming... So much... Make it stop," she moaned, grimacing. "Make them- It's hurting... It's hurting! Your fault! It's your fault!"

She began to thrash in my arms and I could feel the panic rising. I forced it down. trying to determine what was happening to her.

Was she infected with whatever had taken control of Korwin? That didn't seem likely.

"It's your fault! McDonnell!" she screamed, her eyes squeezed shut. She gripped my arm in a death grip and I turned to look at McDonnell, whose eyes were wide with confusion and panic.

"My fault? What are you-"

"It's screaming! So much pain! Make it stop!" she screamed, writhing.

"Impact in 15, 39," the computer announced tonelessly. My thoughts skipped a beat.

_Had that much time passed?_

"You should have scanned!" Athena continued to scream.

~Athena's POV~

I couldn't control it. It was too strong.

_They should have scanned._

_Why didn't they scan?"_

It was alive.

They were killing it.

_So much pain..._

_Why wouldn't it stop?_

_Didn't they know?_

_So much pain..._

_Screaming..._

_Your fault._

_You should have scanned._

_Your fault!_

...

It was so strong. There was so much pain.

_Burn with me!_

~the Doctor's POV~

"I can't-" Athena's voice was ragged and urgent. "I can't control it! They didn't scan! They didn't- It's alive, Doctor! It's-"

She writhed in pain, wordless screams escaping her mouth. I turned to glare at McDonnell. The woman was pale.

I could feel the others join us, but I didn't give them any attention.

"It's burning!"

Her eyes opened. Instead of the familiar hazel eyes I loved, or even the golden eyes of Bad Wolf, they were a bright white. Pure energy, leaking from her eyes. She blinked and her eyes cleared slightly. Well, they didn't clear. They shone gold.

"The sun.. The sun is alive," she said, her voice completely calm. "I can't hold it for long, Doctor. You need to- Release the fuel. Give back the energy. The energy scoops. They're killing the sun. So much screaming. It needs to stop!"

Another wordless scream of anguish. Her eyes flashed white before reverting to gold.

"I can't- It's too- Give it back! I can- Unlock the doors," she said shakily. The golden glow grew stronger before fading. "Get to the- auxiliary engines... Release it... Give it back before it- No... No!"

"Athena? Athena!"

* * *

><p>AN:

Ooh, cliffie! I bet you all HATE me now! Oh well, I update a lot tonight. Look for updates tomorrow!

^.^ Susie ^.^


	22. Chapter 22

~Athena's POV~

Once again, we stood in front of the TARDIS. As promised, the vent room cooled down as we got farther away from the sun. Even better, with the sun healing, it had released its hold on Korwin. It had been too late for Abi, but the rest of the crew was alive and in decent shape, considering that fact that they had avoided a solar impact with just half a minute to spare. With that, we were ready to get going, leaving the crew behind.

The Doctor and I went ahead inside, leaving Martha to say goodbye to the crew.

"I guess it's time," I said, sighing.

"Time for what?" the Doctor asked. I rolled my eyes.

"What is that, two or three times that Martha's nearly died traveling with you? Isn't that usually when you give a companion their key? I mean, I've already got Mum's," I pointed out, lifting my necklace out from under my shirt.

The Doctor paused, humming thoughtfully.

"Yeah, I suppose so," he murmured. I grinned.

"Alright then," I said cheerfully. "First things first, I need to shower. Although, I could murder a cuppa tea. Want one?"

"D'you have to ask?" he grinned cheekily. I rolled my eyes.

"I suppose I'll get right on it, then," I grinned back.

The door opened and closed to reveal Martha. She looked surprisingly energetic for what had just happened but I let it slide.

"Hey, Martha, want some tea? I was gonna shower before making some," I offered. She nodded excitedly.

"Yes please," she said politely. I gave her a smile before wandering down the halls towards the kitchen.

Carefully carrying the tea through the hallway, I heard movement from the console room and I nearly dropped the tea.

I raced to the room, carefully putting the tea down on the floor.

"What the bloody hell happened?" I asked, watching the Doctor fly around the console.

"I didn't do it," Martha defended immediately. I fought the urge to roll my eyes.

"It's the Family."

"Which- you don't mean-"

"Um, I might?" he said, his grin screaming of embarrassment.

"Honestly, I leave you guys alone for hardly an hour and you manage to-"

"No time!" the Doctor shouted. I sighed exasperatedly before racing towards the controls, helping him guide the TARDIS away from our assailants. "Martha, did they see you?"

"I don't know!"

"How d'you not know?" the Doctor asked.

"I was too busy running!" she defended fearfully.

"Martha, this is important, did they see your face?" the Doctor asked seriously. After a moment's hesitation, Martha shook her head.

"They couldn't have."

"Doctor, they're locking on to us!" Martha turned to look at me as I continued to watch the scanners.

"They can follow us? But how, we've got a time machine."

"Stolen technology. It's not that hard to wire a vortex manipulator into a spaceship if you've had the proper training. Of course, if you've had the proper training, you're no one good," I explained hurriedly. "But that means-"

"I'll have to do it," the Doctor said, his voice quiet.

"Do what? What'll you have to do?" Martha's voice was filled with panic. I swallowed.

"What about me? They'll be able to track me."

"Martha, you trust me, don't you?" the Doctor asked, ignoring me for now.

"Of course I do," she said at once.

"Doctor, listen to me!" I shouted. He turned, running a hand through his already messy hair. "It they can trace you... I'll have to do this too. You realize that? They'll be able to find you through me!"

"But-"

"Don't worry, Martha. This is sort of normal. The human side of me should remember all of this. If it doesn't... We'll get to that later," I said hurriedly. "Doctor, start the process! I need to set up the protocols."

The Doctor nodded, obeying me. He immediately set up the device, while I grimaced at it.

"Can you activate emergency protocol 97-Delta-F4 Amber?" I asked the TARDIS. A flicker of lights and a mechanical whir was my reply.

I could hear the Doctor take a steadying breath before activating the process that would seal everything that made him himself away into a fob watch. He flipped the switch on and began to yell in pain, making me grimace.

"Protocol 43-Alpha-Beta-A6. Launch. Disguise time-vortex signature. Begin emergency sequence 17-Epsilon-B. Disable transport abilities until further notice. Activate stand-by distress signal to Torchwood Two, direct to Director Rose Marion Tyler. Repeat, activate stand-by distress signal to Torchwood Two, direct to Director Rose Marion Tyler. Signal follows: If you are receiving this, send Captain Jack Harkness to location provided. Repeat, Jack Harkness to location provided. We are under attack. The Family of Blood has found us. End Signal."

"What did you just do?" Martha asked me. I glanced at her before turning to the Doctor. The process was nearly complete. He was all but unconscious.

"A lot of technical babble. C'mon, c'mon, hurry up," I urged the chameleon arch.

"What's going on? What's happening to him?"

I sighed, turning to her and holding up the fob watch that would, in a short amount of time, contain every Time Lady bit of me. The only difference between the two watches was that, while his was silver, mine was gold.

"This is a fob watch. But its not an ordinary fob watch. This is used in a device called a chameleon arch, which the Doctor is currently using. It is designed to take every bit that makes a Time Lord a Time Lord so that they can completely blend in with humans. When this process is complete, the Doctor will be completely and undoubtedly human. One heart, no babbling nonsense and/or brilliance, just a regular John Doe. Or should I say Smith. His name is John Smith, by the way. He's being programmed with everything John Smith would need to know as we speak. Family history, childhood memories, anything you like.

"Now, I will be doing the same thing when he's done, but, thanks to my half-human side, I should, theoretically, be able to remember all of this. The most it'll do to me is physical, such as disguise my second heart. I won't need a lot of information programmed into my head, seeing as I'll be able to remember about all this and then lie about it, but just in case, I have some information already set up that matches John Smith's background. In case you're wondering, I am Amber Smith, the daughter of his late wife."

"So he won't remember _anything_?" Martha asked, struck by the knowledge. I shook my head.

"Nope. And he probably won't believe you if you tell him anything. If the Family traces us here, give me his watch. I'll be able to protect it until the time is right to open it. Ya got that?"

"Yeah," she nodded shakily. I noted the lack of shouting and saw the Doctor laying on the floor, the chameleon arch still hooked up to him. I snatched the silver fob watch out of the device, placing it in my pocket. I put my own watch into the designated slot, placing the helmet-like device on to my head. I grimaced.

"This is gonna hurt," I complained before turning the device on.


	23. Chapter 23

~Athena's POV~

My eyes snapped awake and I studied my surroundings. I was laying in a comfortable bed, tucked in snugly. A desk sat near the center of the room, two yards from the foot of my bed. A fireplace was to my left, opposite the door on my right. The mantle was decorated with small figurines and photographs. There were oil paintings dotting the creamy pink walls.

It was a very neat room, but not exactly to my taste.

There was a knock on the door and a very familiar person entered, wearing an outfit that made me snicker under my breath.

"Hello, Martha," I grinned. She grimaced.

"Good morning, Miss Amber. I trust you slept well?" she asked, not breaking character. I grinned.

"Rather well, thank you. Have you seen my father yet?"

"Yes, he asked me to tell you that he wanted you to join him for breakfast."

"Thank you, Martha," I nodded, knowing that she hated this. The Doctor got to be a school teacher. I got to be the Matron's assistant. She was stuck being a maid.

I sat down at the table in John Smith's room, dressed my already-hated nurse's uniform. There was two good things about it, though. One, it concealed my necklace, which now held my watch on it as well. Two, it concealed the vortex manipulator secured around my ankle very well.

"Good morning, Father," I smiled.

"Ah, Amber. How are you?"

"The same as yesterday," I smiled. "I'm happy to be separated from the chaos of London, even if that means the separation from my friends. How are you liking the country?"

"Well, I'll admit that it's given me some interesting dreams," 'John' said curiously. I made myself look intrigued.

"Interesting how?"

"Well, I dream I am this... adventurer. This... daredevil. A madman. The Doctor," he said, buttering a slice of toast. "Last night, I dreamt that you were there... But your name wasn't Amber. It was Athena."

"The Greek goddess of wisdom? You flatter me, Father," I smiled, helping myself to a pear as he chuckled.

"And you know Martha?" I nodded. "She was there too... It was so strange. She was almost like my... companion."

"A teacher and a housemaid?" I asked, raising an eyebrow. I knew Martha would try to pay me back for that comment later, but I needed to keep the conversation going.

"It was odd, I tell you," he nodded. He stood, walking towards the mantle. He picked up his silver fob watch and I felt a small wave of apprehension that disappeared as soon as he placed it back down. "It's funny how dreams drift away. But, I do remember one thing. It all took place in the future. The year of our Lord, 2007."

I smiled, lifting the day's paper off of the table.

"Well, the paper says otherwise," I chuckled, passing the paper towards him. "Monday, November 10th, 1913. I wish I shared your imagination for dreams, though. They seem to be so exciting."

"I suppose," he grinned. "Well, I must be off to class. Try not to cause any trouble, alright darling?"

"Of course, Father," I said, bowing my head to hide my smile.

* * *

><p>"Is he alright?" I asked urgently, rushing into John's room. Leave it to the Doctor to fall down a flight of stairs to escape an awkward conversation. I suppose there are some things you can't seal away in a fob watch.<p>

"Amber," Joan Redfern scolded. I shrank back.

"Sorry, ma'am. I heard what happened, and I was worried," I said earnestly. John groaned.

"I'm quite alright," he assured me. I looked at him appraisingly.

"I don't believe you. You need to be more careful, Father. I'm amazed you haven't gotten a concussion," I said, frowning. "Mother left it to me to take care of you. I would appreciate it if you watched your footing."

"Yes ma'am," he chuckled. The Matron crossed her arms.

"Young lady, is that any way to speak to your father?" she said sternly. John only laughed.

"Oh, it's quite alright, Joan. She is right, of course."

"After living with you for sixteen years, I suppose some sense has rubbed off on me," I smiled sheepishly.

"Well, not too much sense. I was just telling Joan about my dreams. I dream that I'm someone else; that I'm... hiding," he explained. Joan smiled, humoring him.

"Hiding," she repeated. "In what way?"

"Oh, this is gonna sound silly," he remarked. Joan raised an eyebrow curiously.

"Tell me."

"I dream, quite often, that I have two hearts," he explained. Joan laughed under her breath, turning and collecting a stethoscope from the table.

"Well, now, I can be the judge of that," she said confidently. She held the end to his chest, first on his left, then to his right. When she was finished, she pulled away. "Well, I can confirm the diagnosis. One heart," she smiled.

"Well, I did happen to write down a number of these dreams," he announced. " At the request of my daughter, actually."

"They're really quite amazing, ma'am," I nodded. "Father, you should show her."

Obediently, John jumped up out of his chair and fetched the book. Joan accepted it from him, opening the leather binding.

"A Journal of Impossible Things," she read aloud before delving through the pages. "Look at these creatures... Such imagination."

"Thank you."

"They're beautiful... Quite an eye for pretty girls," Joan smiled as the page opened to a drawing of my mum. John cleared his throat.

"Actually, she's just an invention. This character, Rose... She seems to just... disappear, later on... Ah, that's the box! The blue box. It's always there. Like a magic carpet. It's this fun little box that transports me to far away places," he smiled.

"Like a doorway?" Joan surmised. John nodded.

"I sometimes wonder about how magical life would be if these were true," John chuckled. I carefully turned away, knowing I'd be unable to keep my face smooth.

"If only," Joan agreed.

"Just a dream."

* * *

><p>I sighed, finally in the comfort of the TARDIS. It had been one of my first opportunities to escape and I took the time to visit that wonderfully blue box that was my real home.<p>

I was talking with the old girl, catching her up on what Mr. John Smith was doing, when I heard a noise at the door and turned to face the newcomer.

"Martha, you scared me," I sighed in relief. "You weren't followed, were you?"

"No. Why would someone follow me?" she said, sounding a little bitter.

"Martha, I've told you. There was only one way the Headmaster would hire you, and that was as a maid. In fact, that was only with recommendation from John Smith and myself."

"I wish he'd come back," Martha murmured. I nodded.

"I know what you-"

"What? What's wrong?"

I knew why Martha looked so concerned. I had just gasped. I couldn't help it though.

"Someone's opened the watch," I said quickly. "Not the Doctor. Someone else. I don't know who, though... They closed it too quickly for me to track it! Stupid human brain! How d'you live with it Martha? I feel like I can't see my hands!" I complained.

"What's that supposed to mean?" she asked, on the defensive. I threw my hands up into the air.

"It _means_, that we have to get back to the school, _now_, and make sure the Doctor hasn't been compromised," I explained tersely. Martha nodded and ran towards the door, closely followed by me.

* * *

><p>I walked as quickly as I dared through the hallways, Martha a safe distance behind me. I was heading directly for John Smith's room when I felt it again. That familiar presence beside my mind. I nearly gasped again but I held it in as I changed directions.<p>

"What's going-"

"It's been opened again," I explained hurriedly.

_Power of a Time Lord... You are not alone... Keep me hidden,_ the Doctor's voice said, drifting through my mind. I thanked our mental bond, tracking it through the school until I was just outside of a door. I forced my breath to come evenly before opening the door, not knocking.

"Timothy?" I asked, surprised, as the boy, who was maybe thirteen or fourteen years old, hurried to hide what was in his hands.

"Oh! Miss Amber!" he said quickly, stuffing the watch under his pillow. I wondered about the best way to approach this and decided on the simplest.

"Timothy, I need you to trust me," I said calmly.

"Wha-What do you mean, Miss?" he asked, stumbling over his words.

"I know what you have under your pillow, and I need you to give it back. You can trust me," I said, pulling my own watch out. "See? I have one too. The same design and everything. If you open mine, the same thing will happen. But I can't do that right now. There are people looking for us. That is why the watch said to keep it hidden."

"Are you alright, Miss?" he asked nervously, glancing away.

"Don't try to avoid this, Timothy. That watch belongs to my father. That is his entire identity, sealed away for safe keeping... You can feel it, can't you? All that intelligence, locked away inside a metal shell."

"Miss, do you not trust me?" he asked suddenly. I was caught off guard, especially by the innocence in his eyes. "It wants me to hold onto to it. I can feel it."

I sighed, holding out my hand.

"May I see it? I won't run off with it," I promised, rolling my eyes. Timothy hesitantly obeyed, placing the silver watch into my hand. I closed my eyes, forcing my human brain to concentrate.

_Doctor, are you sure? _I thought as loud as I could.

After a moment, a vague acknowledgement floated through my thoughts and I sighed. I studied the watched for a moment before pressing it back into Timothy's hand.

"Don't open it again," I ordered. "If I could find you by tracing what's left of the mental connection, then the people looking for us surely can."

"I understand," he nodded seriously.

I studied him appraisingly before nodding once more.

"I hope you know what I'm trusting you with," I said quietly. He nodded.

"I do, ma'am." I laughed.

"I'm not that old yet, Timothy," I smiled. "Now then, c'mon. I believe you've got some learning to do."

* * *

><p>"Amber, this is no place for a young woman," John tutted. I kept my expression neutral.<p>

"Father, with all due respect, if, heaven forbid, there is a war fought, then I may be called upon to nurse these boys back to health. If that is to happen, I must acquaint myself with the sound of gunfire," I said logically. He sighed, but nodded before looking to his students.

"Concentrate," he coached as the boys fired at the dummies provided. "Hutchinson, excellent work."

"Cease fire," the Headmaster ordered, walking towards us. I kept my expression smooth. "Your crew's on fine form today, Mr. Smith. Although I must ask, Miss Amber, why are you not with Matron? A young lady such as yourself surely doesn't belong on the fields of battle."

I repeated my logic, and he seemed satisfied with my response.

"Right you are, Miss Amber. It is my hope that one day there shall be a just and proper war in which you all can prove yourselves. Now, resume firing."

Timothy froze and I could feel the watch shift in his pocket. Hutchinson glared at the boy.

"See, sir? He's completely useless. Permission to give Latimer a beating, Headmaster?" the older boy asked. The Headmaster turned to John.

"It's your class, Mr. Smith."

"Permission granted," John allowed.

"Right," Hutchinson smirked, dragging Timothy to his feet. "Come with me you little-"

"Father!" I protested. He looked at me sternly. "I apologize... It wasn't my place to speak."

"You'll do well to remember that, Miss Smith," the Headmaster said before walking away. I bowed my head.

Baines, one of the older boys, sniffed.

"Anything the matter, Baines?" John asked curiously.

"I thought-... No sir, nothing sir," he said politely. His smile was too polite. It was unnerving. Nevertheless, I let him walk away. I couldn't do anything just because he was a little creepy, now could I?

I opened the door to John's room, intent on finding him. Baines was definitely creeping me out. Some fatherly advice would be great at a moment like this.

"Father, I- Oh my goodness, I'm so sorry!" I apologized, jumping away from the door. After all, I was clearly interrupting.

John sighed, sounding rather impatient.

"What, Amber?" he asked shortly. I swallowed.

"It's- um, one of the students. I'm so sorry, I can come back later," I promised, already heading for the door. Joan stood up.

"No, it's alright. I really ought to be going," she said, walking past me to the door. "I suppose I'll see you at the dance, John?"

"I suppose you will," he agreed. When she was gone, he turned to me. "Now, what was so important?"

"It's- um, Jeremy Baines. He keeps staring at me," I said worriedly. John only laughed.

"C'mon, darling. Cute lass like yourself? Wouldn't be surprised," he grinned cheekily. I frowned and his grin grew wider. "So, which lucky boy are you attending the dance with?"

"I wasn't going to go, actually. I'm not inclined to spend the evening with two dozen trigger-happy, over-zealous-"

"Oh, come now, they aren't too bad," John grinned. "Just go out there, find a boy that you find tolerable, and ask him to accompany you. It's just one evening, after all."

I sighed. Yes, Doctor. Just one evening. Then Joan Redfern will be out of your life. Yes, I could give him one human evening.

* * *

><p>"Timothy?" I asked the boy. He jumped, looking up from the book in his hands.<p>

"Yes, Miss?"

"I was wondering, are you going to the dance tonight?"

"I have to, Miss. All the students do," he answered quickly. I hummed, crossing my arms.

"Well, my father is demanding that I find a companion for the evening. Would you mind coming with me? It's only for the evening," I said quickly. For a moment, I paused, wondering when I had discovered a talent for speaking so formally. I guessed I got that from my father as well, the ability to change accents in a heartbeat.

"I- um, yes," he said awkwardly. I smiled.

* * *

><p>"Athena! Athena!"<p>

I paused, hearing Martha outside of my door. I looked up as she barged into my room.

"Martha, what's wrong?"

"They're here! They've found us! They look like people, and they've got Jenny, and they- They've possessed her or something!" she said quickly, leaving me processing. "We need the Doctor, and we need him now! They're here!"

_They're here._

I grimaced, lifting my watch.

"Stay with me. Wait for the transformation to end," I ordered before clicking the watch open. Golden light poured out of it and I took a deep breath, waiting for the Time Lady to return.

After the reasonably painful transformation, I felt my two hearts beating in my chest, my pulse faster than it should have been. I laid the blame on the adrenaline already pouring into my system.

"All good! Allonsy!" I shouted, running out of the door, only slightly hampered by my nurse's uniform.

I skid to a stop, remembering something.

"Martha, get to the Doctor. Keep him in his rooms. I need to get something first," I said, thinking of the Doctor's watch. "I'll be there in just a minute!"

"Timothy! Timothy, I need the watch, right now. Those people who're after us, they're here. We need to get out of here before they can attack."

"Wha-What?"

"Not the time for questions! I've already opened my watch, but we need the Doctor too! Okay? So _please_ give me the watch!"

"But-"

"Oh, c'mon!" I groaned. So, to conserve time, I pulled a Jack Harkness. Well, not a full Jack Harkness, seeing as _that_ would entail a lot more effort and trouble if Mum or Dad found out. I brought the boy's face to my own, kissing him on the lips. The maneuver was successful and he relaxed, allowing one of my hands to slip into his pocket, snatching the watch.

"I'm sorry about this!" I shouted to the somewhat dazed boy.

* * *

><p>I pushed the door open victoriously.<p>

"I've got it, I've got the-"

I paused, seeing John recover from what clearly was a slap. I was startled to see that Miss Martha Jones was the probable assailant.

"Martha!" Joan shouted out.

"You stop this! You are coming back to the TARDIS with me right now," Martha argued, gripping John's arm.

"How dare you! I am not going anywhere with an insane servant! Martha, you are to dismissed, you will leave these premises immediately!" the Doctor exclaimed, shoving her out of the door. "Now get out!"

The door slammed, leaving Martha, probably extremely shaken, on the other side.

"The nerve, the absolute cheek! You think I'm a fantasist, what about her?"

"The funny thing is that you did have a fob watch, right there," Joan said, nodding towards the mantle. "Don't you remember?"

"Father," I said quietly. He turned, his eyes widening slightly. A thought flashed through my mind. In John Smith's profile, Martha Jones had been a childhood friend of mine. She had been hired on as a maid when her parents died, leaving her with absolutely nothing. To him, he had just expunged my best friend.

"Amber-" he began. I shook my head.

"You really are thick sometimes, ya know that? She was only trying to help!" I couldn't help but shout. "Fantasist," I scoffed. "You know that dream you had, where you were hiding? Yeah, well they found us _Doctor_."

"You've been poisoned by fantasies, darling," he said calmly. I shook my head violently.

"Then what's my Mum's name?"

"R-" A flicker of recognition flashed through his eyes. "Rose... That's funny. I must've named one of the characters after her... The mind works in mysterious ways."

"Is that it, then?"

No response.

"Then excuse me, Father, Matron. I have to get ready for the dance."

I stomped away.

The silver fob watch was curled tightly in my fist.

I had promised him one human evening.


	24. Chapter 24

I grimaced at my dress.

After combing the TARDIS' wardrobe room, I found a number of dresses that fit the time period. The one I had selected was red that darkened before glowing with reflective beads, reminding me of firelight. It fell to the floor, hiding my black Converse. After the Lazarus incident, I refused to go anywhere without wearing suitable footwear.

I still felt bad for using Timothy, but I couldn't do anything by this point.

I was almost surprised to see Timothy waiting at the bench we had chosen as a rendezvous point. I bowed my head in apology.

"I'm sorry about earlier today. I didn't mean to-"

"It's alright," he reassured me. I smiled, grabbing his hand and leading him towards the dance.

_He's a good kid,_ I decided, smiling gently.

* * *

><p>"Ladies and gentlemen, please take your partners for a waltz," the announcer said before the music came on. I chuckled as Timothy nervously lead me to the dance floor, rolling my eyes.<p>

"It's just a dance, Tim. Relax," I chuckled.

Across the room, John and Joan were also dancing.

* * *

><p>I could see Martha approach Joan. John was further away, talking with some of the other guests. Martha sat down beside Joan and talked with her for a minute, until John came and ruined their little chat. Some words were exchanged, words that I could not make out over the music, but I could clearly see Martha press the sonic screwdriver into John's hand.<p>

"You will be silent!" a rather large man shouted, entering the room. He knocked over a hat stand, probably for dramatic effect, and I resisted the urge to roll my eyes. Then my eyes narrowed. The man was not alone. He was joined by Baines and Jenny, not to mention half a dozen animated scarecrows.

_Honestly, evil villains and their animated henchmen. It's always something you don't expect. Next time, it'll be an army of bananas! Oh, how the Doctor would cry._

"Mr. Clark, what is the meaning of this?" another man asked. Clark turned, pulling what was clearly a weapon out of his jacket. He shot the man pointblank, releasing a green ray of light that vaporized the man in seconds.

"You will be silent!" Clark repeated loudly.

The crowd, being humans, immediately began to panic, rush about, and make a rather impressive racket.

"We asked for _SILENCE_!" Baines joined in. This time, the silly humans obeyed. "Now then, we have some-" He sniffed the air and I froze. His eyes turned from Martha, Joan, and John. They turned directly to me. "Time Lord... Or should I say, Lady?"

"This can't be good," I murmured.

"What are you talking about?" John said, fighting his way out of the crowd. "That's my daughter! She as human as I am!"

"Ahem." A small girl joined the Family's ranks. "The teacher. He's the Doctor. I heard them talking about it," she reported.

"Ah, interesting..."

"What shall we do, Son of Mine?" Clark asked. Baines' tilted his head to the side.

"Why have one Time Lord, when you can have two?" he asked. He aimed a gun at my father. "Change back!"

"I don't know what you're talking about!"

Jenny grabbed Martha roughly, pointing a gun at her.

"Doesn't this scare you enough to change back, Doctor?"

"I literally don't know what you mean! I can't change back! I'm just a human!"

"Wait a moment... This girl," Jenny said, waving her gun towards Martha's head, "told me about the Doctor and the Matron. That woman, there!"

Clark grabbed Joan Redfern.

"What about this, Doctor? Now are you ready?"

"Tell me, Doctor, have you enjoyed your time as a human? Did it teach you the wonders of this pathetic world? Has it made you richer and wiser? Now tell me, Doctor," he said, suddenly grabbing onto my hair. I tried to fight it, but he was surprisingly strong. Not to mention yanking my hair out from its roots. "Which do you want us to kill first? Your friend, your lover, or your precious daughter? Your choice."

"Make your decision, Mr. Smith!"

"Perhaps if that human heart breaks, the Time Lord will emerge," Baines suggested. I glanced at Timothy urgently, nodding. His eyes brightened slightly and his hand moved toward his pocket, retrieving the fob watch I had returned to him.

He clicked it open, and the energy spilled away. The Family all hissed, their eyes and focus going to Timothy as he snapped the watch closed and escaped from the scene.

Taking advantage of the momentary confusion, I twisted around, seizing the gun from Baines and pointing it at his neck. I dragged him away from the rest of the Family, holding the gun steady at his neck. My other arm held him in a chokehold, his windpipe ready to be crushed by my elbow.

"Oh, the Time Lady is fiery," Baines chuckled, still in my grip. I tightened my hold on his neck.

"You know, I never liked you," I growled.

"But would you really pull the trigger? Do you possess the anger it takes, the will to survive? I can sense a flicker of fear in you, Time Lady."

"Yeah, well I'm the one holding the gun, aren't I? Call off the dogs, Sonny-boy," I ordered, my lip curling.

"Ooh, such spirit," Baines commented. I narrowed my eyes.

"Release Martha and the Matron. If you don't..." I tightened my arm around Baines' neck. "You might regret it."

Baines' head turned slightly towards me and the gun hovered ever closer to his neck. Eventually he laughed under his breath.

"Release them," he ordered. Clark and Jenny obeyed without question. When they were safely away, I glanced towards John.

"John, get these people out of here. Now! Martha, get to the school."

"Amber, I can't-"

"Shut up, John. My name is not Amber. It's Athena," I said, glaring at the Family of Blood.


	25. Chapter 25

~Athena's POV~

I kicked Baines away, back to the rest of his creepy alien family. I could feel the scarecrow foot soldiers coming up behind me and I prepared to duck.

"Take the gun!" Baines suddenly ordered. I ducked down, bringing the weapon with me. After all, if I could figure out exactly how it worked, I might be able to disable it, not to mention its counterparts.

"No!" Baines roared angrily as I danced away from his creations.

I ignored him, following my instincts and running out of the building. I was annoyed to see John and Joan still there. Martha was there as well, but she was trying to urge the other two to leave.

"You know, I love you and all, but you are rubbish as a human," I complained, grabbing his arm. "Allonsy!"

"You're absolutely mad!" Joan shouted, being dragged along by Martha. I grinned, even though she couldn't see it.

"Without a doubt," I agreed. "Now, leg it!"

* * *

><p>While John rallied the boys and teachers, I spent my energy into working with the Family's weapon. It's simplicity made it difficult to damage without ripping it in half, something I admired but disliked. After all, if every Family member but the Son had one of these, they could take the school in a half hour, no matter how well the boys were at shooting scarecrows.<p>

"Now, what we have here is a neutranium dikryptide power core worked into a double-fragmented switchboard. Not very stable, which actually helps the weapon to function," I explained to Martha. "There's an outer coating of... What is that? Paladium? No, that's archindide! Oh, whoever made this was clever... The archindide actually disrupts the power signal triggered by the, well, trigger, and creates a barely traceable signal that actually remotely fires the gun! Oh, they were clever, but not clever enough!"

"Translation?" Martha asked, hopelessly lost. I grinned.

"The trigger doesn't make it fire. It sends a tiny little magnetic signal to a tiny computer inside the gun, which tells it to fire. If I can jam the frequency, I can stop the thing from working," I explained.

"And if you can broadcast that signal," Martha began, catching on.

"I can disable their weapons!"

John, rushing past us, heard this outburst.

"Did you just say that you can-"

"Yes, I can. That green radiation that vaporized the poor fellow at the dance? I can cancel it. Well, or make it harmless. To humans. Might still affect goldfish," I murmured. I glanced up to see exasperation on Martha's face and impatience on John's face. "Not the biggest concern, right. Anyway, I'm going to need some equipment. I'll have to MacGyver my way out of this one... Alright, I will need... half a dozen high caliber rounds, two metal clothes hangers, a good pair of pliers, an outlet, and the biggest magnet you can find."

At Martha's incredulous face, I sighed impatiently, turning to John.

"Don't make me talk technology, Dad. I can talk circles around you at the moment, and I think that there are more important things demanding your- Timothy!"

"I'm sorry, what?"

"No, he's opened the watch! Doctor- John- whatever your name is, take care of the kids. I have to get your watch back!"

I left them behind me as I ran down the hall, leaving confused schoolboys in my wake.

I followed the disappearing signal upstairs. It grew strong once more as he opened it again, quickly closing it and running once more. I followed quickly, just as the Family surely was.

I found myself in a dormitory. All was normal, except for the open window. It was an unseasonably cold evening. He had climbed out of the window.

I followed suit, glad once again for the shorts I wore under my dress. I hadn't had the time to change out of the formal wear since the dance ended so abruptly.

I took care to close the window behind me, hoping to throw them off the trail for as long as I could.

I followed Timothy, and the watch, to a house surrounded by trees. There, standing a few feet from the door, was the boy himself, just staring at the wood. I joined him, smiling.

"You did good," I said honestly. "But it's time to give it back."

"I know," he nodded, holding the watch in his open palm. I smiled again and accepted it from him before I knocked on the door.

After a moment, it opened.

"Miss me?" I grinned, holding the watch up for Joan Redfern to see.

"Hold it," Martha begged John.

"I won't," he said, staring at it warily.

"Please," Martha said desperately. I shook my head, brushing my fingers against her arm.

"It's alright... Let me talk to him..."

Martha nodded, backing away slightly. I took a deep breath before pulling up a chair, sitting in front of my father.

"I don't think I've lied to you through this whole ordeal," I said after a pause. "Martha probably didn't realize it... Sorry about that, by the way," I apologized to the woman.

"For what, now?"

"John Smith is Amber Smith's father, just as the Doctor is mine. I wasn't lying about that," I said. I wasn't sure who to smile to, or even if I should be smiling at all, so I settled for looking at the table, tracing the designs in the teapot with my fingertips. "I guess in all the traveling, adrenaline, and adventuring, I never really had a chance to really get to know _you_. I mean, I heard loads of stories from my Mum, but its not the same."

"Hold on a minute," Martha said, waving her arms. "You're saying that you're _his_ daughter?"

"Yep. Sorry, Martha... You never really had a chance. I've known all my life. The Doctor's known since New New Earth, back when I got kidnapped."

"And you didn't tell me _any_ of this!" Martha exclaimed, turning on John. I cleared my throat.

"Oi, Miss Martha, _that_ is not the Doctor. _That_ is Mr. John Smith. Two completely different people. One Time Lord, one human. One is the savior of worlds, destroyer of evil, rescuer of distressed damsels and the like; one just wants a normal life, with a normal girl, and a normal family. It's really not that unfair to want that."

"Thank you," John nodded at me, still clearly overwhelmed. I sighed.

"But," I continued, "people, good and innocent people, need the Doctor right now."

"I've seen him," Timothy said, stepping from the shadows. "He's like fire and ice, and rage. He's like the night and the storm and the heart of the sun."

"Stop it," John said quietly, afraid.

"He's ancient and forever. He burns at the center of time and he can see the ends of the universe," Timothy continued, gaining momentum.

"Stop it!" John ordered louder, more panicked.

"And... He's wonderful."

A flurry of explosions rained down upon the landscape.

"What the hell?" Martha wondered aloud, rushing to the window. She was soon joined by the rest of us.

"They're destroying the village," Joan murmured. John exhaled sharply, grabbing the watch from its spot on the table. "John..."

"It's asleep..." he murmured. "Waiting for the right time to wake up."

"Why would he speak to me?" Timothy asked.

"Oh, low-level telepathic fields. Something you were born with. Extra synaptic engram causing a-" His voice shook and John reemerged. "Is that how he talks?"

"That's him," I nodded.

"All you have to do is open it, and he's back," Martha added. I glanced at her.

"But you're not gone," I reassured the human Time Lord. "John Smith is a part of the Doctor, just as he is a part of you. All that curiosity, all that enthusiasm, all that loyalty- that's both of you. It's up to you to share his bravery.

"When I first met him, he nearly died to save a hospital full of people. A thousand people. He'd give everything up for them," I said honestly. "I won't lie to you. If you don't open that watch, they will destroy this village. They don't know mercy, restraint. They will murder every man, woman, and child that strays across their path. Then they'll take the watch by force, or they'll take me. Maybe both. They absorb the energy of the time vortex that lives within both of us and they will live off of it forever. They will breed and lay waste to this planet. Then they'll branch out."

I realized how quiet my voice had gotten. I stood up, clearing my throat.

"So, tell me, _John Smith_," I emphasized. "Are you half the man my father is? Or will you wait in the shadows, clinging to what is left of Earth until it crumbles beneath your feet?"

"I-I-"

* * *

><p>Martha, Joan, Timothy, and I watched on as the Doctor, not John Smith, escaped from the ship.<p>

_Did you have to set it to blow?_

He was silent, standing over the Family of Blood.

* * *

><p>I kept Martha away as the Doctor dealt his punishments. I was privy to his decisions, and none of them would be very comforting for the young woman. The Father would be wrapped in unbreakable chains, forced to fall down a bottomless chasm without dreams of release. The Mother would be trapped in a collapsing galaxy, unable to live yet unable to die. The Daughter was trapped in every mirror, forced to hide in the shadows of the subconscious for all eternity. The Son was frozen in time and hidden away into a suit of straw, destined to forever watch over England's fields as a scarecrow.<p>

I also kept Martha away when the Doctor said his goodbyes to Joan.

Unfortunately, all the keep-away led to a lot of uncomfortable conversation. Mainly about Mum. Sometimes about the Doctor. Occasionally about my personal history. When the Doctor finally appeared in the distance, I was amazed to realized that Martha had wormed so much information out of me, yet I still knew little about her.

_How did she take it?_ I asked the Doctor.

_Not- Not well, I suppose. She didn't slap me, at least,_ he reasoned. I rolled my eyes.

When the Doctor came near, he grinned at us.

"I just realized, I never said. Thanks for looking after me," he said before capturing both of us in a bear hug. Martha and I both laughed until he released us.

"Martha! Amber! Doctor!" a familiar voice called. I smiled.

"It's Athena, remember?" I said, smiling at Tim. He shrugged, scratching the back of his head.

"I just wanted to say goodbye. And thank you," he said, shoving his hands into his pockets. "I've seen the future and I now know what must be done. It's coming, isn't it? The biggest war ever?"

"You don't have to fight," Martha said.

"I think I do," Tim disagreed.

"You could get hurt," Martha countered. Tim glanced at the ground before looking back at Martha.

"So could you, traveling around with him, but that's not gonna stop you," he pointed out.

The Doctor cleared his throat, stepping towards the boy.

"Tim, I'd be honored, if you'd take this," he said, holding out the empty watch. Curious, Timothy turned it over in his hand.

"I can't hear anything."

"It's just a watch now," I said, shrugging. "You should keep it though. Good luck charm, eh?"

"Look after yourself," Martha said, hugging the boy before kissing him on the cheek. I smiled, stepping down to meet him.

"I never did thank you for the dance," I said, hugging him myself. I smiled at him before kissing his other cheek. "Don't get hurt out there, alright?"

"Promise," he chuckled.

The Doctor held the door open for both of us before turning back to Timothy.

"You'll like this bit," he grinned. He stepped inside, joining me at the controls. I set the coordinates and guided the TARDIS to a silent stop.

We left and, ignoring Martha's inquiries, walked towards the ceremony.

There, sitting in a wheelchair, badges of valor and hardship lined over his heart, was Timothy Latimer. I smiled at him as the vicar read the Ode of Remembrance aloud.

"They shall not grow old, as we that are left grow old. Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn. At the going down of the sun and in the morning, we will remember them."

Timothy's eyes watered and he smiled as the tears fell down his cheeks.


	26. Chapter 26

~Athena's POV~

We ran through the crowded street. We had somewhere to be, after all.

"Doctor! Doctor!" a young woman shouted. The three of us turned, only to see a completely unfamiliar woman running towards us from out of a shop.

"Oh, hello," the Doctor greet. "Um, sorry, bit of a rush. There's a sort of, erm, thing happening. Very important thing, and we've got to stop it."

"Oh my god, it's you," she said, her voice light with disbelief as she studied him. "It really is you. What, you don't remember me?"

"Doctor, we haven't got time," I reminded him. "The migration's starting."

"Look, sorry, I've got a bit of a complex life," the Doctor said, trying to speed up the conversation. "Things don't always happen to me in the quite right order. Get's a bit confusing at times... Especially weddings; I'm rubbish at weddings."

"Doctor!" Martha called.

"Especially my own," the Doctor continued.

"Oh my god! But of course," the young woman said. "You're a time traveler; it hasn't happened to you yet, none of it. It's still in your future."

"What is?" he asked curiously.

"Doctor, we've got twenty minutes till it hatches," I reminded him urgently.

"It was me," the young woman said, looking rather incredulous. "Oh my god, that whole time, you got it from me!"

"I'm sorry, what?"

"Okay, listen. One day, you're gonna get stuck in 1969. Make sure you've got this with you," the young woman said, pressing a purple envelope into his hands. "You're gonna need it."

"Doctor!" Martha called again.

"Yeah, yeah," he said, snapping out of it. "Listen, got to dash, really important thing happening. Well, four things. Well, four things, and a lizard."

"No worries," the young woman said, masking her confusion very well. "See you around someday!"

The Doctor turned to follow Martha and myself, only to spin back around to face the young woman. I glanced at my watch again. Only fifteen minutes left.

"What was your name?" the Doctor asked.

"Sally Sparrow," she smiled.

"Good to meet you, Sally Sparrow," the Doctor said.

A man came out of the shop as well, staring at the Doctor with unmasked shock. Sally Sparrow put her hand in his, smiling at him.

"Goodbye, Doctor." With that, Sally Sparrow led her companion back into the store.

"Doctor! We need to go!"

"Ah, right!"

* * *

><p>"I told you to run, didn't I?" the Doctor said tiredly. I rolled my eyes.<p>

"Doctor. You can't run from them and have even a reasonably chance of getting away; they're too fast. The best chance you've got is to-"

"D'you still have that packet?" Martha asked. The Doctor turned to her.

"What? What packet?"

"You, know, the one that Sparrow girl gave you?"

I rolled my eyes, taking it out of my coat, nearly identical to my fathers. While his was tan, mine was black..

"Yeah, like I'd trust the Doctor with anything that could possibly be of any use," I teased. The Doctor pouted and I laughed. "Oh, relax."

I opened the purple packaging, not sure of what was inside. I wasn't sure what I was expecting, but this much information wasn't it.

"Photographs, manuscripts, dates, letters," I said, sifting through it. "Hold on... This house, it's nearby."

"So?"

"So," I emphasized to the Doctor, "you wrote Sally Sparrow a message, on the wall, in what looks like chemical dye."

"Where'd I get that, then?" he asked confused. I rolled my eyes again, pulling it out of my pocket.

"And you have a bottle of chemical dye lying around in your pocket because...?"

"The same reason the Doctor keeps two bananas, a toy mouse, and a bowtie," I shrugged. "You never know when you'll need it."

At Martha's incredulous look, I explained.

"Bananas, while being full of potassium, are a good way of fooling Time Agents that they still have a gun after you've picked their pocket. A toy mouse is an excellent distraction for prison breaks. And the bowtie... The Doctor did say he was rubbish at weddings. The least he can do is dress appropriately."

"Bit cheeky, don't you think?" the Doctor pouted. I winked.

"Got that from you, according to Mum. Just be glad I haven't kissed any- Oh, god, I'm turning into Jack," I grieved.

"Okay, then, back on topic," Martha prodded. "What's all this then?"

"It looks like... Miss Sally Sparrow kept excellent records," I surmised. "All of _this_ happened in her past. But for us, it's happening _now_."

"So she's left us instructions or something?" Martha summarized. I shrugged.

"Sort of, yeah. She knew to give this to us because we had it in her past. We had all of this information already previously. This is why you shouldn't go back on your own time line. After a while, it just gets ridiculous. For example, me. I'm taking some serious risks just hanging out with the Doctor. Anything I do or say can, theoretically, cause me to completely disappear from this universe. I might pop up back in a parallel world, but there's an excellent chance that I'll just cease to exist."

"You what-now?"

"Not important at the moment," I said, rolling my eyes. "What's important is that we get to the house and graffiti it before the owners put up the wallpaper."

* * *

><p>"What do you think she meant, stuck in 1969?" Martha asked, watching the Doctor and I write on the walls. "I mean, we still got Athena's vortex-thing, right? Could we just pop out?"<p>

"We could, but then we'd cause a massive space-time-" Pausing at Martha's blank expression, I backtracked. "It'd be bad. The weeping angels would keep thriving until they're powerful enough to... I guess you'd call it breed. Instead of just sending people back in time, they can kill them to normal way too. Then they can take the body and infect it. I've heard stories about it, and it's not pretty. Poor Bob," I frowned. "Oh, and avoid looking into their eyes."

"Bob?"

"Spoilers," I said, stepping back to see our handiwork. I held the photographs up to compare the two. "Not bad, Doctor. Put 1969 in parentheses, though. Okay... Good!"

* * *

><p>A scanner began to sound off from within the Doctor's pockets.<p>

"Um, Doctor? You're... ringing, I suppose," I said, chuckling. He jumped up, digging through his pockets and pulling out a strange looking device.

"Timey-whimey stuff," he said excitedly. "C'mon, you two, let's follow it and see where it goes!"

"Sometimes I worry about you," I said, shaking my head before following the already sprinting man.

"I always worry 'bout the both of you," Martha said tiredly before following us as well.

"Welcome!" the Doctor called from ahead of me. There, sitting against a wall on the ground in front of him, was a good-looking man with dark skin, mid-twenties and absolutely confused.

"Where am I?"

"1969," the Doctor reported. "Not too bad, I suppose. You got the moon landing to look forward to."

"Oh, the moon landing's brilliant," Martha grinned. "We went four times."

"Doctor, you could be a bit more sensitive," I scolded. "But yeah, it was pretty great, wasn't it?"

"Back when we had transport," Martha said, turning pointedly to the Doctor. He sighed.

"Working on it," he defended.

"How did I get here?" the man before us asked.

"Same way we did, I'm afraid. The touch of an angel. A weeping angel, to be exact," I said. "Pretty similar dates too... Hey, Doctor, you suppose it was the same angel?"

"Good theory. Haven't had much experience with these though. Maybe we'll run into 'em again," the Doctor shrugged.

The man moved to get up and the Doctor placed his hand firmly on his shoulder, keeping him down.

"No, no, time travel without a capsule. Nasty," he argued. "Catch your breath, don't go swimming for half an hour."

"You get used to it," I argued.

"That's not exactly the point here," the Doctor said, glancing at me before turning back to the man.

"I don't- I can't-" he stuttered.

"Fascinating race, the weeping angels," the Doctor said, glancing up at the sky. "The only psychopaths in the universe to kill you nicely."

"Wha-"

"With time. No mess, no fuss. They zap you into the past and let you live to death. You die in the past and they consume the energy created by all the days you might've had. They live off of potential energy."

"What in God's name are you talking about?" the man asked the Doctor.

"Trust me, just nod when he stops for breath," Martha empathized.

"It's really quite intriguing. Well, from a distance, I suppose. Not too much fun now... Oh well," I shrugged. The Doctor pulled out his scanner.

"I tracked ya down with this. _This_ is my timey-whimey detector. It goes ding when there's stuff," he simplified.

"I don't understand; where am I?" he repeated.

"1969, like he said," Martha said.

"Normally, I'd offer you a lift home, but somebody nicked my motor," the Doctor said sadly. I perked up.

"Wait, would bringing _him_ back screw-"

"Language," the Doctor tutted. I rolled my eyes.

"Would bringing Mr... Sorry, what was your name again?"

"Shipton- Billy Shipton."

"Ah, good name," I grinned. "Like the fortune teller. Met her once. Not a very nice lady, I assure you that. She told me that I'd-"

"Athena, is now really the time for that?" Martha asked tiredly. I jumped.

"Oh, sorry 'bout that. Anyway, d'you think bringing Billy here home _mess_ with the timeline? And it's not even a curse word. I've heard you talk, Doctor, and you aren't exactly-"

"I think it would," the Doctor nodded sadly, cutting my tirade short. "So I guess we need you to take a message to Sally Sparrow... And I'm sorry, Billy. I am very very sorry. It's gonna take you a while..."

"What's- What's the message?"

"Tell her... Look at the list. She should have it by the time you met. A list of seventeen DVD's. She'll understand."

* * *

><p><em>Oh, of course!<em> _That's how the easter eggs got on the DVD's!_ I thought to the Doctor. We didn't have much to do but sit around. Well, I could do whatever I wanted, but I didn't want to chance the fabric of the universe for a bit of fun.

_What d'you mean?_

_Billy Shipton! He's going into selling movies and stuff, right? _He_ could put the easter eggs in! All we have to do is record your half of the transcript!_

_Hey, you've got a few lines too,_ he said. I glanced again at the paper and nodded.

_So does Martha._ "Is that it then?"

"Is what it?" Martha asked, not being in the loop of the Doctor's and my mental connection. I sighed, catching her up. "Oh, I get it!"

I fished through my coat pockets. _Thank you, Dad, for teaching me how to utilize Time Lord technology,_ I grinned to myself, pulling out objects of various usefulness.

"Why do I have all of this?" I asked after pulling out a sombrero, four Greek drachmas, a prophecy from the Oracle of Delphi, the Family of Blood's weapon (which I still have not disabled), a claw given to me by a warrior priestess of Rangnook 9's seminary, and a suspicious looking green slime in a vial.

Finally, I pulled out a camcorder. The Doctor's hand moved to pick up the nine-inch claw and I slapped it away.

"That claw is a keepsake from the High Priestess Akia of Rangnook 9. No touchy-touchy," I ordered. I dug through my pockets, searching for the tripod.

"How did all that fit in there?" Martha asked, her eyes wide.

"Bigger on the inside," I grinned, setting up the tripod. "Alright, get talking, Doctor. We've got some messages to plant."

* * *

><p>"Is this how time normally passes?" I asked Martha tiredly. "In the correct order?"<p>

"And slowly," the Doctor added sadly. She scoffed.

"Honestly, I expected a bit more from you. Or at least you, Athena," she amended. I grinned at the hurt look on my dad's face.

"Haha, the human likes me more," I said, smiling my Rose smile. The Doctor stuck his tongue out at me childishly. "Ya know, in the time I've been stuck here, I could have gone back to Torchwood Two, found a way to make the sonic microfield manipulator work without a hitch, save about nine species, and be back before Sally Sparrow rescues our dear TARDIS."

"Didn't you spend like sixteen years living in a linear fashion?" Martha asked, amused. I nodded.

"Yeah, but I've had access to vortex manipulators since I was nine. Mum would let me go wherever I wanted as long as Jack tagged along. Oh, those were the days. One time, back when I was ten, I wanted to learn how to play the organ, right? So Jack and I would pop back and forth, trying to decide if Bach or Handel would make a better teacher."

"I learned from Beethoven," the Doctor said, yawning.

"I heard," I nodded. "After a while, I got a bit tired of classical and baroque and all that. Entered a jazz-blues phase. Learned how to play alto-sax," I smiled. "Ray Charles has a wicked sense of humor."

Martha's disbelieving face was very entertaining.

"After jazz-blues, it was hip hop and rap. I know all the words to every MC Hammer song out there," I informed the two.

"Teh, I _taught_ MC Hammer how to rap," the Doctor laughed. Martha raised an eyebrow and I sat up.

"Is that a challenge?"

"Only if I win," he grinned.

"Hey, Martha," I called. She looked at me curiously. "Give us a song. Any rap song. This is getting settled here and now, 1969."

"I dunno, I don't listen to rap," Martha shrugged. I sighed, pulling the iPad from my coat pocket. "Seriously, how do you fit-"

I flipped through the menu, going directly to music. I scrolled through for a while until finding the right century and genre. I passed the iPad to Martha.

"Pick any song on that list. Don't play it, just pick it."

She scrolled through the list, her face a determined frown.

"God, Americans and their rap," she muttered. "Oh, alright. Here's one... Um, Big Pimpin' by Jay-Z?"

I grinned.

"Doctor, prepare to lose."

* * *

><p>"I demand a rematch," the Doctor said resolutely. I grinned. Martha's face was somewhere between amusement, shock, and horror.<p>

"If you want a rematch, I'm going to have to record it and spread it over the internet. Do you really want to get beaten by a seventeen year old girl in front of the world?"

"Ha! Empty threat! Torchwood sifts out everything that has to do with me," he grinned victoriously. I smiled.

"Only if Torchwood Two, meaning Rose and Jack, don't approve of it," I countered. He visibly deflated until a familiar mechanical whirring filled the air.

"She's back!" the Doctor cheered, jumping up. I stood up more quietly, placing a hand on the familiar blue box.

_I missed you, girl,_ I thought towards the machine. The door opened how it was supposed to- outwards, and almost smacked the Doctor in the face. He pouted, walking inside.

"No favoritism, you," he tutted. I chuckled.

"You missed it; I beat the Doctor in a rap battle," I informed the TARDIS. A flurry of green and blue lights was my answer, as well as a contented, if not amused, hum.

"You did not!" the Doctor disagreed. Martha chuckled.

"She kinda did, Doctor," she said softly. I grinned before turning towards the hall. "Where are you going?"

"Me? I'm going to shower. And then sleep. Then devour a peanut butter-nutella sandwich. In that order."

"You're gonna sleep?" Martha asked, raising an eyebrow. I rolled my eyes.

"I do sleep occasionally, you know," I said, pretending to be offended. "Honestly, humans sleep half their lives away."

"Stealing my lines, are you?" the Doctor grinned. I winked at him before wandering down the hallways to my room. The TARDIS never did leave it in the same place...

When I had finally found my room, I was nearly exhausted. I couldn't remember the last time I had sleep. Okay, that was a lie. I had slept when we went to 1913, but that was in a human body. None of that sleep really stuck.

I pushed my door open and the TARDIS was kind enough to turn on my lights, illuminating my small suite.

I had three rooms to myself: a bedroom, adjoining bathroom, and my own little office. All three rooms shared a common color scheme: Bad Wolf gold and TARDIS blue, accented by black. My office doubled as a laboratory, but the Doctor didn't have to know about that, now did he?

Showering quickly, I escaped into the comfort of my bed. My eyes closed immediately and I fell into a dreamless sleep as my brain powered down.


End file.
